Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny
by PlasmaShinx77
Summary: After the incident regarding Temporal Tower's near-destruction and Darkrai almost taking over, a new threat to the world arises. Left with no other choice, the legendary guardians summon another human to save the world. Will he succeed, or will darkness overcome the Pokémon world? (Accepting OCs)
1. Prologue: A Legendary Distress Call

**Author's Note: Hi, everyone! I'm finally going to start my own fanfic! I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I do writing it. Anyway, I'm going to start off this story with a prologue so you can understand some of the storyline. By the way, Pokémon doesn't belong to me. It belongs to Game Freak, Nintendo and Chunsoft…I think. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

On a deserted isle, we see 7 Pokémon running or floating in the same direction. However, these were more than just normal Pokémon. They are the legendary protectors and guardians; they go by the names Mew, Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy, Phione, Victini and Meloetta. As anyone could see, though, something was off.

They looked panicked, almost fear-stricken.

"We have to hurry! Who knows what could happen to this world at this rate!?" Celebi yelled in utter panic.

"Celebi, you must relax. If we cannot compose ourselves, we won't be able to think straight." Meloetta calmly stated, trying to calm her friend and ally down. Celebi, however, only huffed in annoyance. She didn't understand how Meloetta could be so calm in the situation they were in.

Phione, Manaphy and Victini, however, were not as composed.

"Manaphy," Phione said, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm scared. What happens if we can't protect our world this time?" Manaphy then pulled her younger brother closer to hug him. "It's okay, Phione. I understand that this is scary for you, especially since you just became a Legendary Guardian, but we'll get through this. I promise."

"Manaphy is right," Jirachi said to Phione. "Last time we had a disaster this big was when Darkrai tried to take over the world by trying to collapse Temporal Tower, and the world was still saved in the end."

"Hey, guys, we're here!" Mew exclaimed.

Soon, the group of legendaries arrived at their destination: a large secluded cliff side with a breathtaking view and statues of legendary Pokémon. To the side, there was a large, normal-looking rock. Mew walked over to it and pressed her hand to a part of the rock.

All of a sudden, the earth began to tremble slightly as a part of the rock began to sink in, revealing a hidden stairway inside of it.

"I still can't understand how that works." Victini said.

"Me neither. I just go with it." Mew replied to him.

They all then proceeded to walk, or float, down the spiraling staircase. When they reached the end of it, they arrived in a wide chamber with many ivory pillars. In the middle of the room, there was a Pokémon with their back turned to the other 7 in the room. Suddenly, the Pokémon acknowledged the presence of the others and turned around to face them.

The Pokémon was revealed to be the mythical Diancie.

"I assume that you know why we're here?" Jirachi questioned.

"Yes. There is an evil presence that can ultimately cause the destruction of our beloved world." the Diancie, her voice proving to be a female's, said with a serious expression.

"But we can't just sit back while our world's in jeopardy. We have to take action!" Mew said desperately.

"Well..." Diancie started, "I think that it's time that we call upon... him."

"Wha-? Diancie, are you sure? He doesn't even know about us. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even know about this world." Celebi stated to the mythical Pokémon.

"Well then, I need to pay him a visit. Can I trust you all to guard this place?" Diancie asked sternly.

"Of course!" the others all said in unison.

"Good. I'll be right back." And with that, Diancie disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a world that is completely different from the Pokémon world, we see, in an apartment, a boy who appears to be 15 years old. He has dark hair, brown eyes, a red t-shirt, khaki shorts, and a pair of glasses. He was eating a small bowl of cheese balls, when he suddenly takes note of the sudden flash of light emitting from his room.

"Huh? That's weird. Did my lightbulb overheat or something?" The human wondered. When he opened the door, he was in for a complete shock.

Instead of seeing his room as it normally was, he saw a large, multicolored vortex on his bedroom floor.

He reached down slowly to touch it. "What is this thing? It looks like it came from a-" The human didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt a purge of strange energy coursing through his body upon making contact with the vortex.

Then, suddenly, he disappeared in an instant.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what did you all think of the story so far? It was probably a little too long for just a prologue...or not, I'm still new to this stuff. If I have any punctual or grammatical errors, let me know. Anyways, remember to review.**


	2. Chapter 1: A Hero's Awakening

**Author's Note: Well, the prologue was a success, and to be clear, I do plan on continuing this story, and it's going to be long. VERY long. By the way, if you want me to include OCs, then PM (private message) me about them, but remember that I can only include so many characters. Pokémon still belongs to Nintendo/Game Freak. Enjoy!**

* * *

The human woke up with a start. The last thing that he remembered before blacking out was touching a rainbow-ish vortex that had suddenly materialized in his room in a flash of light.

_"Wow. Maybe I should spend more time cleaning my room,"_ the human thought. _"Where am I, anyway?"_ That's when he took the time to look at his surroundings.

The first thing he noticed was that there wasn't any ground...he was just floating in the midst of a rainbow colored void that seemed to extend endlessly.

That, and there was a strange pink and gray creature staring right at him.

"AHHHH!" the human screamed in pure shock. "WHAT IS THAT!? WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT!?"

The creature, who was Diancie, winced at the human's sudden outburst. "My, you certainly have a loud voice, young one," she said, rubbing her ears.

"..." The human just stood there, slowly processing what had just happened. "OH MY GOD IT TALKS! WHY IS IT TALKING!? HOW IS IT DOIN-" Before he finished his second outburst, Diancie had clamped her hand over his mouth.

"I'm going to remove my hand now. When I do, I need you to be quiet for me to explain myself. Okay?" Diancie asked sternly. The human slowly nodded. "Good." Diancie smiled, removing her hand. "Now, what is your name, human?" she asked curiously.

"M-My name's Carlos. W-What's yours?" the human, now known as Carlos, asked nervously. "My name is Diancie," Diancie replied warmly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Carlos. Don't worry, you have nothing to fear, I won't hurt you. I brought you through this portal to tell you about the impending doom of my world."

Carlos decided to listen attentively. "You see," Diancie began, "There is a great evil in my world. As the leader of a small group of legendary guardians, it is my duty to protect my world: the Pokémon world, from any tyrants who wish to take it over. However, this new evil I've sensed is far greater than anything I have ever seen in my whole life, and I need your help to stop it."

"Hold on," Carlos said, "I thought that pokémon weren't real. Is this some kind of prank?"

"No, this is no prank," Diancie said, "in your world, pokémon are only a myth, as humans are a myth in my world. So, what do you say? Will you help me?"

Carlos started to tense up. "Wait, but what can I do? You just said that this was the greatest evil you ever sensed, so what difference can I possibly make?"

Diancie simply responded by putting a hand over his heart. "Just by standing near you, I can tell that your heart exudes bravery and courage. You have the potential to defeat this evil, I just know it."

Carlos still wasn't sure. Diancie noticed this and sighed and stared at him with sad eyes. "Carlos... please. I'm begging you. If this evil manages to take over, my subjects will be killed or enslaved, the legendary guardians will be disbanded, and the world will be in ruin. Please, do it for my people, for my friends, and for me." Carlos felt really bad for Diancie. _"She's trying so hard to defend her world. I have to help, or try, at least."_

"You know what? You're right, Diancie. I can't just give up. Your people need as much help as they can, so I'm willing to cooperate in any way possible," Carlos stated, a confident smile growing on the human's face.

"Good. I'll send you to the Pokémon world now, and your heart will lead you from there," Diancie said. "Until we meet again, Carlos!"

Suddenly, she engulfed Carlos in a bright, and he disappeared from the void in the blink of an eye.

Diancie sighed. "The world's fate rests on your shoulders...chosen one."

* * *

Somewhere in a forest, a pokémon can be seen walking. This particular pokémon had an elephant-like structure, and light-blue coloring, along with several bright red markings along its body. It's known in the Pokémon world as a phanpy. The phanpy appeared to be looking at all of the different flowers.

"Hmm... I don't think she'll like these, either," the phanpy muttered, it's voice being male. "Maybe some roses... Yeah, those are super generous to give! But where can I find some?"

He was in deep thought when he saw a white light flash coming from deeper inside of the forest. _"What could that be?"_ the phanpy wondered as he ran to the source of the light. When he arrived, he was surprised at what he saw.

There was a small crater, about 4 feet long and wide, along with an unconscious pokémon in the middle. The phanpy immediately went over to check on the Pokémon.

"Hey! Wake up! Come on, wake up!" the phanpy pleaded. The pokémon wouldn't budge. "Please, just wake up!"

Suddenly, the pokémon began to stir, until it stood up completely and looked at its surroundings. "Where... Where am I?" the pokémon wondered aloud.

"Why, you're on the outskirts of Treasure Town, of course!" a peppy voice said. The pokémon turned around to see a smiling phanpy. "Thank goodness you're okay. You're not from here, are you? Where are you from, sir?"

"No, I'm from... Uhh... I'm from... Hmm..." the pokémon couldn't remember where it was from, or anything about its past life, as a matter of fact. "I don't remember. Actually, I can't remember anything," the pokémon stated bluntly.

The phanpy looked confused. "What about your name? Surely you couldn't have forgotten your name, could you?" The pokémon thought for a moment. He was sure that he could remember his own name. Then it clicked to him. "My name is Carlos," the Pokémon recalled.

"My name is Dusty. It's nice to meet you and all, Carlos, but you're definitely an odd pokémon," the phanpy, Dusty, replied. Now it was Carlos' turn to look confused. "What are you talking about? I barely remember anything, but I know for a fact that I'm a human, not a pokémon."

Dusty then pointed at Carlos. "I don't think so. You look like a shinx from where I'm standing. A shiny one, as a matter of fact," "Wait, what?" Carlos wondered. "See for yourself," Dusty said, pointing to a nearby puddle. Carlos leaned over and gasped at what he saw. Instead of seeing a human reflection, he saw that he beared the appearance of a shinx, just as Dusty had said. But something else caught him off guard.

His fur was golden, and it gleamed occasionally, and his eyes were a piercing, glowing orange.

"Wha- How did this happen? What's happening!?" Carlos said in a huge panic. "W-Why am I a pokémon? I'm supposed to be a human! An omnivorous, bipedal human!"

Dusty sweat-dropped._ "Yup, this guy has lost it."_

Carlos looked at Dusty helplessly. "Oh, who am I kidding? You probably think I'm a weirdo or something. Well, sorry for wasting your time," he said as he started to walk away before he was stopped by Dusty.

"Hold on. I admit that a human turning into a pokémon is pretty far-fetched, especially since they're only heard of in myths. But you don't have any reason to lie, so I believe you," Dusty said, smiling.

Carlos couldn't help but smile. "Thank you. This really means a lot to me." But then he remembered his other problem.

"This is bad. I'm suddenly thrown into a world as a shiny shinx with barely any memory of who I am," Carlos muttered. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Hey, since you clearly have nowhere to go, you can come stay with me and my friend Katty if you want." Dusty offered.

"Really? You barely even know who I am, yet you're offering to let me stay at your place? Why?" Carlos asked, bewildered at Dusty's generosity.

"Of course. You don't seem to have a reason to lie, especially about something this important. Besides, you're pretty cool," Dusty answered.

"Wow, that's so nice of you! Thanks!" Carlos said joyfully. Then he looked around. "Um, where exactly is your house?"

Dusty started to walk in a direction. "Follow me, it's this way." Carlos then started to follow.

_**Dusty joined the party!**_

Unbeknownst to the two pokémon, someone was eavesdropping on them behind a tree. Once Carlos and Dusty were out of earshot, the pokémon stepped out. It was a tall pokémon with a black and gray fur coat, crimson hair-like fur with a light blue band holding it, and sharp claws. It stood on its hind legs.

It was known as a zoroark.

"Looks like they're about to head out somewhere. I'd better inform the master," The zoroark said as pulled out a communicator.

"Sir, are you sure about me doing this?" the zoroark spoke through the device.

The voice on the other end sighed. "I gave you specific orders; kill the chosen one and anyone who sides with him, no matter what. Do you understand?"

The zoroark looked in the direction that Carlos and Dusty went, a wicked grin suddenly growing on his face. "Yes, sir."

"Then I will see you later... Evan." the voice replied.

* * *

**Author's Note: And the story begins! By the way, the default team will be more than just Carlos and Dusty, so prepare yourself for an awesome story! Next chapter will feature the first boss fight, so look forward to next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 2: The Mysterious Illusionist

**Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone. In honor of the snowstorm canceling school, I quickly made the next chapter. As I promised, it's time for the fanfic's first boss fight. The title kind of gives it away, though. By the way, should I add special episodes in like the game did? Give me your opinion in the reviews. Anyways, I don't own Pokémon or Evan, they belong to Game Freak and Xorobukkit respectively, but I do own Carlos. Enjoy the story!**

* * *

The zoroark, named Evan, put his communicator away. "_Hmm,_" he thought. "_Maybe if I can beat them to that kid's house, I can ambush them there._" Satisfied with his plan, Evan quickly ran off in the same direction that Carlos and Dusty were heading in hopes to get ahead of them. When he passed them, he was careful not to make any noise to alert them. After a few more minutes, he reached a house in a small clearing.

Instead of knocking, he used one of his claws to pick the lock on the door. When it clicked, he opened it and barged in, when he took note that he was being watched.

He turned, and saw a pokémon with a pink head and ears, a cream face, underbelly, paws, and a pink back. It was a skitty, and it was cowering in a corner of the room. Evan grinned evilly and started to slowly walk towards the terrified skitty.

"Well, well, well, look at what we have here. Well, since you've seen me, I guess I'll just have to end you..." Evan unsheathed his claws. "... Permanently!" he added maliciously. Then, out of nowhere, he suddenly lunged at the skitty.

The skitty screamed and ran out of the house. After Evan recovered, he quickly ran after her.

"Leave me alone!" the skitty screamed in a feminine voice. "Sorry," Evan said, "but I can't risk blowing my cover." Evan had no trouble catching up with her. When he did, he slashed at her chest, sending her flying backwards plenty of feet before she painfully landed back on the ground.

"AHHHHHHHH!" the skitty let out a blood-curdling shriek, in pain from the deep wound on her chest and her painful fall.

The Zoroark slowly walked over to her until he was looming right over her, his claw raised up and ready to jab at her chest. "It was nice knowing you," Evan said, laughing loudly and maliciously.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carlos and Dusty were still walking over to Dusty's house.

"So, Carlos," Dusty said after a long silence, trying to strike up a conversation, "what was it like being a human?"

Carlos looked at Dusty blankly. "I don't know, Dusty. I can't remember anything, remember?"

"Oh yeah. You must have amnesia," Dusty remarked. "Yeah, but for now, I'll just have to adapt to life as a pokémon. Oh, and if it's okay, please don't tell anyone else that I'm a human. It might draw a lot of unwanted attention," Carlos said. Dusty nodded.

"But is it okay if I tell Katty? I would never keep a secret from her," he explained. Carlos nodded his head in approval. Then he smirked. "So, you've been mentioning this Katty in our conversation quite a lot. Is she your girlfriend?" he asked, a bit teasingly.

"W-What!? I-It's n-nothing like th-that! W-We're j-just f-f-friends! F-Friends a-and nothing more! Dusty said nervously, while stuttering uncontrollably. Carlos was actually starting to get concerned. "Dusty, are you okay? I was just-" "End of conversation!" Dusty interjected hastily. Then, he realized something. Wild pokémon could be anywhere, so he should teach Carlos the basics of battling and using moves.

He suddenly heard Carlos singing something. He leaned closer to hear him. "Dusty and Katty, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-" Carlos was cut off as he was brutally tackled to the ground by Dusty.

"Don't ever do that again!" Dusty hissed at him. Carlos was immediately scared by this. "F-Fine, I'll s-stop," he said and Dusty let him go. _"Wow, not even an hour and I'm already traumatized by my only friend,"_ Carlos thought.

"Carlos," Dusty had said suddenly. The former human looked at him. "I believe you when you say you're a human. So that means you should probably learn the basics of battling." "Okay," Carlos replied.

"Uhh..." Dusty looked around until his eyes set on a small, flimsy tree. "Okay, let's just work on tackle for now. It's an easy move. You just ram into someone head first," Dusty pointed at the flimsy tree. "Try it on that tree."

"Sure, if you say so." Carlos obliged as he ran at the tree on all fours and rammed into it, successfully smashing it to pieces. Dusty watched in awe. "Wow, that was a perfect Tackle!" he exclaimed, when he saw a slightly larger tree. "Can you knock down THAT tree?" Dusty dared. So Carlos ran up to the tree and delivered a super strong tackle. Dusty almost screamed when he saw Carlos' power. "You're a quick learner, that's for sure! Keep up the good work, and you could be a member of the Wigglytuff Guild in no time!" he exclaimed in joy.

"Wait... What's the Wigglytuff Guild?" Carlos asked, confused.

Dusty lit up at the sound of this question. "The Wigglytuff Guild is where pokémon-"

"AHHHHHHHH!" A sudden shriek could be heard throughout the entire forest.

_"What was- wait... oh no!"_ Dusty thought. His eyes widened in horror as he began to run fast. "Dusty, what's going on!? Where are you going!?" Carlos yelled out to him. Dusty glanced back at Carlos and screamed in a panic, "I know that voice! It's Katty, and she must be in trouble!"

At hearing this, Carlos ran alongside Dusty. Soon, they found themselves in a small clearing. In the middle of it, there was a decently large, two-story house. Parts were painted light blue, peach, red, and apricot. _"Wow, Dusty has a nice place,"_ Carlos thought. But that was the least interesting thing going on at the moment.

A few feet away from the house was a skitty, who had three claw marks across her chest. Standing behind her was a zoroark, laughing maniacally, with his blood-stained claws ready to jab into the injured skitty.

That was enough to drive Dusty over the edge.

"GET AWAY FROM HER, YOU FREAK!" Dusty screamed at the top of his lungs as he rammed into the zoroark with the hardest tackle he could do, sending him reeling backwards. Dusty ran back towards Carlos, fuming with anger.

_"Whoa. I didn't even know someone could get angry to this extent,"_ Carlos thought upon seeing Dusty. _"This is solid proof that he loves Katty." _The zoroark got back up and turned to stare at his attacker.

"Ow! Who has the nerve to-" the zoroark froze up upon seeing Carlos. His serious expression soon turned into a vicious smile. The zoroark stood up and walked over to Carlos and knelt down so that he could see him at eye level. "You must be the one who was summoned. Hmph. You don't exactly look capable of heroism," he muttered to himself. "HEY! I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" Dusty screamed.

The zoroark sighed angrily. "How annoying." With a swift motion, he dealt a shadow claw to Dusty, knocking him unconscious, right next to Katty, who had slightly recovered. She limped over to check on Dusty. "D-Dusty? Are you a-alright?" she asked in worry and pain.

"Dusty!" Carlos shouted. Then he turned to glare at the zoroark. "No one hurts my friends and gets away with it, you jerk! Who do you think you are?" He said coldly. The zoroark merely laughed at him. "Please, call me Evan. Also, if you really think that you stand a chance against me," Evan waved his claws in a taunting motion, "then let's see what you've got, 'hero'."

**BOSS FIGHT #1: Evan**

**[_Kingdom Hearts II - The 13th Struggle_ music]**

Evan attempted to lunge at Carlos, but he jumped out of the way and delivered a brutal tackle to the unlucky zoroark. Evan quickly got up and dealt a swift shadow claw to Carlos before he could dodge. Then he used his illusion power to conjure multiple copies of himself. Carlos got up and rammed into the zoroark on the left, miraculously hitting the real one. Evan got up from the collision, limping slightly.

When Carlos had tried to tackle Evan again, he simply scratched at Carlos, knocking him away.

"Hm. Maybe you are a bit capable, or at least more than I thought. Too bad you won't last enough to show it!" Evan said as he scratched Carlos again.

Carlos got back up and pawed roughly at Evan in an attempt to repel him away, but Evan simply used a shadow claw followed by a scratch as a counterattack. Then he used double team to stump Carlos.

When Carlos got back up, he saw five copies of Evan surrounding him. "Darn it! Which one's the real one?" Carlos wondered. "Guess I'll have to get lucky again." With that, he ran at one of the clones with a fast tackle. When he did, it dissipated into smoke.

The other four Evan clones smirked. "You chose poorly," they said simultaneously as they scratched at Carlos at the same time.

He was sent flying and landed on the ground with a thud. Evan walked over with his claws poised to strike. "Looks like you were too weak to be a hero," Evan said darkly. "But don't worry, I'll make this a slow death for you."

_"No! I can't die now! I have to protect Dusty and Katty!"_ Carlos thought, who was struggling to stay conscious. "Take this!" Carlos yelled out as he rammed into Evan with a full-force tackle. The zoroark landed on the ground with a loud thud. Shock waves were even visible from when he fell.

"Time for the final blow," Carlos said, glaring and obliviously using leer, which had slightly intimidated Evan.

He followed up by building in his energy, a white light engulfing him. At this point, Dusty and Katty were both injured, but conscious, and were watching the battle unfold. Right after Carlos was completely engulfed by white light, he suddenly ran at Evan at a blinding speed, attacking him in the stomach, successfully defeating him.

After a while, Evan got back up painfully. "Grr... I may have underestimated you now, but I'll be back!" he said, quickly running away. "Make sure you don't come back!" Carlos shouted to him.

He had quickly fallen unconscious after that.

Katty took note of this. "Dusty, quick! We need to get him inside," And with that, they took Carlos and carried him to their house.

* * *

**Author's Note: Just to say, I am not good at writing battle scenes, but I tried, even though this one was kind of short. By the way, this is not Evan's only appearance in the story, so look forward to the rest of the story. Next update comes in 1-3 days!**


	4. Chapter 3: Confronting the Bullies

**Author's Note: My updating schedule is a bit... erratic. So, in this chapter, you'll see an exploration team and - not to spoil anything - a certain someone's love interest. Enjoy!**

* * *

Carlos awoke feeling a bit bruised up. When he got up, he saw that he was in a room, and it was colored yellow. He looked down and saw that he was sleeping on a bed made of soft leaves.

That was when he saw his gleaming yellow paws.

"_That's right,_" Carlos thought. "_I'm still a pokémon. But how did this happen to me? Why did this happen to me? Who was that mysterious zoroark? What did he mean when he said that I was 'summoned'? Why did he keep comparing me to a hero? Why am I shiny?"_ He was so deep in thought, he didn't notice Katty entering the room.

She smiled warmly at him. "So you must be Carlos." The shiny shinx was confused as to how the Skitty knew him. "Dusty told me all about you. I'm his best friend, Katty," Katty said as she extended out her paw at him. Carlos smiled before shaking it. He then remembered everything that occurred. He was fighting a zoroark named Evan, who had tried to kill Katty and Dusty. He beat him, but he didn't know how he did it, and then he fell unconscious out of exhaustion. Katty then proceeded to talk again.

"I just want to say thank you for defeating that hooligan. I don't know what he would've done to me if you two didn't arrive in time." "Just one question: how exactly did I beat him?" Carlos asked. "Well, you built up power, and then you unleashed the most powerful Quick Attack I've ever seen!" Katty replied excitedly."I didn't even know a shinx could learn that! Not only that, but you're a shiny!"

Then, Katty's expression turned serious. "Also... Dusty told me about what you said when you guys first met. Are you sure you were a human before you woke up in the forest?" "Yes, I'm positive," Carlos said seriously, "but you don't have to believe me." "Don't worry. You sound sincere, so I believe you," Katty said. Then she remembered something else. "He also told me that you had amnesia. Is there anything that you do remember?" Carlos had no choice but to tell her. "All I remember about my past is that I was a 15 year-old human boy named Carlos. But please don't tell anyone else. I don't want to draw too much attention." he pleaded.

"Don't worry, we're friends, right? I would never betray a friend," Katty said kindly.

"Thank you," Carlos said.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Katty said. "Do you want to eat breakfast? You must be starving after everything you've went through." Carlos was about to say something when his stomach rumbled loudly. Katty chuckled a bit. "Well, I guess a decision was already reached."

"Yeah, thanks," Carlos said as he and Katty walked out of the room and went downstairs to the kitchen, where Dusty was waiting for them. On a table, Carlos saw three moderately large, blue, oval-shaped berries. Dusty took two and passed them to Katty and Carlos.

"What are these things?" Carlos asked, pointing at a berry. "Oh, those are oran berries," Katty answered, smiling.

"I assume that you've never eaten an oran berry before, Carlos?" Dusty asked while munching on his own berry. "It's a special kind of berry that can heal your wounds, and it looks like you still have some," Katty said, pointing at Carlos' noticeable bruises. Carlos decided to try the oran berry. When he did, he felt all of his pain going away. Soon, they all finished their berries.

"Wow... I feel refreshed!" Carlos said, now full of energy. "This berry is SO delicious!"

"I'm glad you like it. I made them myself this morning," Katty said. "Wait... this MORNING? What time is it!?" Carlos asked nervously. Dusty looked at his clock, which was perched on a wall. "It's 11:30, which is about 18 hours after you battled that zoroark." he explained. "I was out cold for 18 hours!?" Carlos shouted in shock. "That battle must've tuckered you out a lot," Katty said to him.

"By the way, Dusty," Carlos said to the phanpy, "I need to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" Dusty asked curiously.

"Before we ran over here to rescue Katty, you mentioned something called the Wigglytuff Guild. What is that, exactly?" Carlos asked.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's a guild where pokémon form teams to explore, train and live with," Dusty explained. "It's a pretty fun experience, and they provide you with breakfast and dinner. Not to mention the battling experience and the load of treasure."

"Oh," Carlos said, "so what's a guild?" he continued. "A guild is a group of people who share similar interests and work together to achieve their common goals," Dusty explained.

Carlos thought about what Dusty had said. _"Hmm... maybe if I join the guild, I can try to_ _find out who I am. Dusty and Katty could join too. It would be fun."_ Then he reached a decision. "Hey... why don't we join the Wigglytuff Guild?" Katty was confused. "You want to join the guild. Why?" "Well, the training would come in handy. If anyone else tries to attack us, we can easily fight back. Plus, we would gain so many treasures. Not only that, but they provide us with food. Also, don't you think that going on explorations with friends sounds like a blast?" Carlos said, awed of the idea of exploration. Katty then decided that it would be a good experience. "Okay, sounds good to me. What about you, Dusty?"

Dusty had just stood there listening. "Carlos," he began, "you think we would become stronger by joining the guild?" Carlos nodded. "Of course. Like I said, there's sure to be lots of explorations for us to hone our skills." Dusty then got a determined look on his face. "Then if it'll help me protect Katty, I'm in."

_**Katty joined the party!**_

Carlos was smiling internally. _"He must have a crush on Katty. I'll talk to him about this later."_ "So, let's go. The Wigglytuff Guild is in Treasure Town, and it's not that far," Katty said before walking outside, followed by Dusty and Carlos, who made sure to close the door behind him as the party of three headed to Treasure Town

* * *

When they made it to Treasure Town, Dusty pointed to a facility perched atop a large flight of stairs. _"Whoa, that's a lot of stairs,"_ Carlos thought. "The Wigglytuff Guild is right over there. Let's go," Dusty said as he and Katty proceeded to walk up the stairs, but Carlos stopped them after he noticed something. "Hold on, guys. What's going on over there?" he asked as he pointed to a bunch of pokémon gathered up ahead.

Dusty and Katty took note of this as well. "Hm. Looks like there's a commotion going on in the town square," Dusty said. "Let's go see what's going on," Carlos suggested.

When they went to the town square, they looked at the center of the commotion and saw a four-legged pokémon with four brown paws, reddish brown fur, a cream underbelly, and six majestic scarlet tails, along with scarlet bangs curled up in a feminine way. The vulpix, instead of brown, had hazel-colored eyes. There were four other pokémon surrounding her: a litleo, a fennekin, a growlithe and a cyndaquil. The growlithe, who was apparently the leader, walked up to the trembling vulpix and stared her dead in the eye.

"So let me get this straight," the growlithe said in a slightly humorous tone, "you actually think I would let you, the biggest coward in town, be a part of MY all-star team? Pathetic," he added while laughing at her, while the other fire-types laughed along, making the vulpix tremble even more.

Carlos did not like this one bit. "_How dare he act so inconsiderate, especially to such a_ _beautiful girl like her!?_" Carlos suddenly froze up. "_Wait... did I just call her... beautiful?_" He was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard the growlithe talk again. "Pfft. As if anyone would even accept you in-"

"LEAVE HER ALONE, YOU JERK!" Carlos screamed all of a sudden, causing every pokémon in the square to look at the shiny shinx, who was fuming in anger. Everyone gasped, either in awe at the shiny pokémon standing before them or at his sudden outburst.

The growlithe scoffed at him, although Carlos could hav sworn that there was a bit of astonishment in his eyes. "Great. Just what I need: some shiny pokémon trying to be the hero." The growlithe walked up to Carlos and violently shoved him backwards. "Well guess what? That makes you even more of a nobody than that stupid vulpix. In fact-" the growlithe's sentence was cut short as Carlos punched him in the eye, sending him flying and his eye black, along with a pinch of blood. "You're the one who insults innocent people for no reason! YOU'RE THE NOBODY!" Carlos yelled at the top of his lungs. Dusty looked at Katty. "Whoa... I have never seen Carlos so angry before." "He probably wants to defend that poor girl. We should go help him," Katty suggested. Dusty and Katty ran over to Carlos and stood next to him, each of them taking a battle stance to confront the growlithe and his team.

The vulpix, who was standing by the whole time, finally gathered up her courage and walked over to stand next to Carlos as well. She then turned to speak to him. "Thank you for defending me, sir. If you're gonna fight these bullies, then I want to help. Please?" Carlos couldn't help but blush slightly. "O-Of c-course you can!" he said nervously. The vulpix smiled at him. "Thank you."

Each group of four took their stances. The spectators caught on and stepped back and gave plenty of room for the intense brawl that would surely occur. Some of them even started to cheer for Carlos. This only seemed to get the growlithe angrier. "What is wrong with you!? Everything was fine, but you just had to butt in the conversation and try to be the hero, didn't you!?" The growlithe snarled.

"You know, both of you throwing insults back and forth is starting to get kind of repetitive... " Dusty said.

"Well, it's not our fault! Why don't you blame the Author? He's the one who writes the dialogue!" Carlos yelled at him. Everyone seemed confused at what Carlos said.

"What're you talking about? Who exactly is this 'Author' person?" Dusty asked him.

"He's the person who's in charge of planning out how our lives go," Carlos explained.

"Um... Okay... " Dusty said, dumbfounded at what he had just been told, "Maybe we should all forget that this weird conversation ever happened... "

"Agreed," everyone said.

"Hey! Don't try to ignore me, you imbeciles!" the growlithe shouted.

"Gee, looks like someone didn't get their beauty sleep," Carlos joked, causing the town to laugh and the growlithe to get even angrier. Then he smirked.

"Oh, you'll just see what you do when I'm done with you and your little posse," he said.

"Oh yeah? And what exactly would that be?" Carlos asked him cockily.

"When I'm done with you," the growlithe said, mainly at Carlos, "you're gonna wish that you never messed with Team Ember!"

* * *

**Author's Note: So what do you guys think? The next chapter will be up in about 1-2 days. Until then!**


	5. Chapter 4: The Wigglytuff Guild

**Author's Note: I have a feeling that last chapter went pretty well. Since my OC is a shinx, I thought it was fitting to make his love interest a vulpix. Speaking of the vulpix, you'll find out her name in a bit. Remember, I can fit in your OC if you want. Enjoy as usual!**

* * *

"Team Ember?" Carlos asked, confused at the term. "That's what you call yourselves?"

"Duh. It's my team's name. You know, because we're all fire types," the growlithe said to Carlos slowly as if he were stupid.

"Wow... how creative," Carlos said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hey, at least my team name's original. What's YOUR team name?" the growlithe sneered. Carlos froze up. He didn't have a team name; he didn't even have a team!

"Actually, I don't have a team name-" Carlos was going to continue, but he was interrupted by the growlithe, who doubled over laughing.

"You don't have a name for your exploration team? Seriously!? Do you even have a team?" the growlithe asked, smirking at Carlos. Unfortunately, Carlos had no way out of this. "... No." he said, hanging his head low.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You're making fun of our leader and you don't even have your own exploration team!?" the fennekin laughed.

"He probably doesn't even know what an exploration team is!" the litleo added, laughing as well.

"Don't insult him. Maybe he just wanted to defend the girl." the cyndaquil said, walking up to Carlos. "I understand if you wanted to defend her. Just to let you know, we may be cocky, but I assure you, we're not immoral. Anyway, let me introduce the team. I'm Cindy, the litleo is Leo, the fennekin is Fen and the growlithe, our leader, is Coal." Cindy explained as she held out her paw. Carlos shook it, a bit confused. "Uhhh... thanks?" he thanked her, although he was still a bit confused.

Leo sighed. "Cindy, why you always try to make friends is beyond me." Cindy just looked at him. "We vowed to become a super strong exploration team. If we have friends, we can do anything as long as we put our hearts to it." she declared proudly.

"As sappy as that was, Cindy is right, and we have a small advantage over you." Coal said, a bit calmer than before, but still frowning. "We'll find you guys some time later, and THEN we'll see who the nobody is." Team Ember started to leave, until Coal stopped and glanced back at Carlos. "You know, I don't think I got your name, shiny." "Oh, yeah," Carlos said, "Sorry. My name's Carlos. The phanpy is Dusty, and the skitty is Katty." Coal nodded. "Good to know. See ya," he said as he and his team went off somewhere.

_"Hm. I guess those guys are just misunderstood."_ Carlos thought to himself. Then he suddenly remembered something and went over to the vulpix. "Are you okay?" The vulpix nodded. "You know, I don't think I've properly introduced myself." the vulpix said before continuing, "My name is Hazel, and once again, I appreciate the help." Carlos smiled before talking again. "Nice to meet you, Hazel. I'm Carlos, and these two are Dusty and Katty," Carlos greeted, signaling to his friends. "So, if you don't mind me asking, Hazel," Carlos asked inquisitively, "why was Coal hassling you?"

Hazel appeared saddened by this. "Well... I wanted to join their exploration team, but they were right about me being a coward. I try to join a team at the Wigglytuff Guild, but I always chicken out." Carlos looked surprised. "You want to join the guild?" Hazel nodded. "The idea of finding new lands, exploring areas and searching for treasure always intrigues me. I want to see the world and see new things!" she said happily. Carlos listened intently. Then he turned his gaze toward Dusty and Katty, who nodded, apparently aware of what Carlos was thinking, which confused Hazel.

Carlos turned to face Hazel. "Hazel, do you want to be a part of our exploration team? We were just going to form one before we came here," Hazel looked shocked. "N-No, Carlos. I couldn't possibly-" Carlos had interrupted her. "Hazel, it's okay. We're all okay with you joining. I mean, you seem really nice," he said, barely concealing a blush, "and besides,

Hazel just stood there. Carlos was about to say something, when Hazel suddenly ran up and hugged him. "Thank you. Thank you so much," she said, tears forming in her eyes, while Carlos' face turned red as a tomato, which Dusty and Katty found to be amusing. Carlos suddenly realized something.

"Um, Hazel?" Carlos began, "Is it okay if I talk to Dusty and Katty privately?"

"Oh, sure," Hazel said cheerfully.

"Thanks," Carlos said as he pulled Dusty and Katty aside. "What's the matter, Carlos?" Dusty asked, confused as to why he pulled them aside. "Should I tell Hazel that I was a human?" Carlos asked. Katty thought about it for a moment. "Sure. She seems like a nice and trustworthy girl, and she's our friend, so she has the right to know." "I agree with Katty," Dusty remarked. "Of course you do," Carlos thought. "Okay, I'll tell her tonight," he said. Then they all returned to Hazel.

"Let's go," Carlos stated.

* * *

After returning to the crossroads and climbing up the stairs, they arrived at a Wigglytuff-shaped tent that was locked by metal bars. There was a grate a few feet in front of it.

"Huh. For a guild, you'd think it'd be a lot bigger. How do we get in?" Carlos asked

"Here, let me demonstrate," Hazel replied. She then stepped on the grate. All of a sudden, voices shot out of nowhere.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" a voice said.

"Eep!" Hazel squealed, startled. "Hazel, don't worry. There's nothing to be scared of." Carlos said from behind her. She looked over at Carlos and nodded. "He's right. My new friends are with me, and there's nothing to be afraid of," Hazel thought as she firmly held her ground.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" a second voice shouted.

"The footprint is Hazel's! The footprint is Hazel's!" the first voice said.

"There are others! Get them to stand on the GRATE!" the first voice boomed. So Dusty stood on the grate next.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" the first voice repeated.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" the second voice hollered.

"The footprint is Dusty's! The footprint is Dusty's!" the first voice shouted.

"Looks like it's my turn. I just hope these brutes don't drive away my hearing," Katty said as she stepped on the grate after Dusty got off. After the two voices identified her, she got off and it was Carlos' turn.

He stood on the grate, his ears sore from all the shouting.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" the first voice yelled.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" the second voice screamed back.

_"Please let this end while I still have my hearing,"_ Carlos thought, rubbing his ears in pain.

"The footprint is... uh... the footprint is..." the first voice said, clearly confused.

"What? Sentry Diglett! What's going on, sentry!?" the second voice yelled out.

"I can't identify the footprint." the first voice, known as Diglett, replied.

"Come on, sentry! This is your JOB!" the other voice boomed.

_"You have GOT to be kidding me!"_ Carlos mentally yelled.

"Uh... uhhh... oh! The footprint is shinx's! The footprint is shinx's!" Diglett blurted out.

The four friends sweat dropped as they heard the second voice mutter "Took ya long enough... You four may ENTER!" All of a sudden, the metal bars in front of the guild's entrance retracted back to the ground, revealing a ladder leading downwards. Carlos, Hazel, Dusty and Katty walked over to it.

_"Oh, so the guild is underground?"_ Dusty pondered. _"That makes a lot more sense."_

"Well, guys," Carlos said, exhaling nervously, "This is it. Are you guys ready for this?" Everyone nodded their heads. "All right. Let's go."

With that, the group of four climbed down the ladder.

* * *

However, as they walked in, they failed to notice a certain zoroark watching them from. _"So,"_ Evan thought, _"the kid's joining the guild, and he has a team with him? That definitely complicates things. I'd better inform the boss."_

Evan was about to use his communicator, but it activated before he could turn it on. "Evan, are you there?" the voice from before asked.

"Yeah, I'm right here, boss," Evan replied. "I found the kid you were looking for, so I fought him and-"

"Lost," the voice finished. "You fought him, and then you lost."

"Forgive me, boss. For a fifteen year-old, I didn't expect him to be so powerful, so I let my guard down," Evan admitted truthfully.

The voice sighed. "It's okay. I understand how you would think that a kid would be so underwhelming, but next time, give it your all."

"Don't worry," Evan said, "he's at the Wigglytuff Guild, so he won't be moving much."

"Great," the voice growled angrily, "if he's in a guild, then he'll have a team to h"elp him fight." Evan saw this as an oppurtunity to redeem himself from his last defeat. "Boss, if you want, I could-"

"Evan, I understand if you want revenge, but I think you've already helped enough," the voice interrupted. "Besides, I already have another guy and his partner for the job. They should be there shortly. You have to explain to them what to do, okay?"

"Got it, boss," Evan said before turning off the communicator. Shortly after, a poochyena and a houndour appeared and stood in front of Evan. "Alright, so how exactly do we defeat this guy?" the poochyena asked. "Well, that's your job, and I've gotta get back to da boss, but I suggest using someone as bait," Evan told them before running off.

"Well, that was helpful," the poochyena said sarcastically to his partner. "So what do we do now?"

"You heard the boss. We gotta find a way to defeat this guy, and Evan said we should use someone as bait," the houndour said.

"We should probably lay low for a day or two before we kidnap someone... Again," the poochyena said. "The question is, who would be the bait?"

The houndour looked from behind the bushes at the passerby pokémon until his eyes set on two of them.

"I think I found our bait," he said.

* * *

**Author's Note: Gasp, a plot twist! Yeah, Team Ember isn't really that bad, they're just competitive. By the way, words in italics are characters' thoughts. Look forward to the next chapter coming in 1-2 days!**


	6. Chapter 5: The Start Of Team Destiny

**Author's Note: Hello, everybody! Sorry for the late chapter, I was busy editing the previous ones. But enough about that. Time for another chapter. In this part, the team will be made there will also be a certain team that will appear here. Enjoy!**

* * *

As the four friends made their way to the main room, which had two paper-filled boards, Hazel, Dusty and Katty started to feel bad for Carlos. Why, you ask?

Because every other pokémon in the room was stopping whatever they were doing to stare at him, which started to make him a bit sad.

"Carlos, is everything okay?" Hazel asked, clearly worried for her new friend. Carlos looked at Hazel and smiled. "Yeah, but... a bunch of people staring at me is a little nerve-wrecking."

The four looked around for a bit. They were intrigued by all of the exploration teams, as the exploration teams were intrigued by the shiny pokémon in their presence. All of a sudden, a chatot comes from downstairs. It cleared its throat, the tone being a male's, and all of the teams suddenly got back to work. The chatot walked over to the four friends and began to speak.

"Hello, and welcome to the Wigglytuff Guild. I am Chatot, the guldmaster's right-hand pokémon and intelligence gatherer." Chatot looked at Carlos as he said the next part. "Now shoo! We have no time to sponsor your silly celebrities!"

_"I hate this guy,"_ Carlos thought bluntly.

"Hold on. We are not sponsors, and Carlos isn't a celebrity. We came here to join the guild as an exploration team," Dusty replied.

Chatot looked shocked. "Wait... you want to join!?" Then he turned around. "Hmm... why do tees kids want to join the Wigglytuff Guild? Our training procedure has proven to be brutal, considering the amount of pokémon who run away out of exhaustion," Chatot whispered, a bit too loudly.

_"Clearly, he doesn't consider the volume of his voice whenever he whispers,"_ Carlos thought.

"Uh... guys, if the training is really that hard, then maybe we should make our own training regimen," he said, a bit nervous.

Chatot became really nervous at what Carlos had said. "No no no! It's not hard at all, our training is as easy as can be!" Then he began laughing unconvincingly. "Hee! Hee hee hee!"

_"I really hate this guy,"_ Carlos thought again.

"Didn't you just say that the training here was really difficult?" Dusty asked.

"No, no, no! Well... Yes, I did, but only to get all of your adrenaline pumping! Hee hee!" Chatot quickly said, faking a smile.

The four friends all looked at each other and shrugged. "Well, even if the training IS hard, it'll only make us stronger," Katty stated.

"Well, then come with me to make your own team," Chatot said as he began to head towards the ladder, but he looked back and saw that none of them were following him. "Come on now, don't be afraid." he said cheerfully. He, Carlos, Hazel, Dusty and Katty went down the ladder again and into a lower level room.

Hazel quickly noticed the window in the room and ran over to it. "Wow! Carlos, look at this. We're two floors underground, but we can see outside!"

Chatot looked a bit annoyed. "Oh, hush! The guild is built on a cliffside, so of course you can see outside!" he huffed.

_"I really, really, REALLY hate this guy,"_ Carlos thought, annoyed at chatot for scolding Hazel, _"and who the heck says 'hush'?"_ he wondered confusedly.

Chatot directed the four friends to a door with a strange red symbol on it. "Now, these are the guildmaster's headquarters. On no account, and I mean on NO account, may you be discourteous to the guildmaster. Understand?" Chatot told the four friends. They all nodded. "Good. Let's go," chatot sais as he led them into the guildmaster's chambers.

When they went inside, they arrived at a large and spacious room filled with treasures. A big, pink and fluffy pokémon stood in the middle of the room with its back turned to them. Chatot decided to speak up. "Guildmaster, I have brought four pokémon who wish to join the guild as recruits." The pokémon didn't respond. "Guildmaster... Guildmaster?" Chatot asked confused.

All of a sudden, the pokémon turned around. It had big, blue eyes and a large grin. "Hiya!" the pokémon said, startling the others and making Hazel jump. "I'm guildmaster Wigglytuff! So, you wanna join the guild? That's great! We're gonna be great friends, and friends make the world go round!" the guildmaster, Wigglytuff, said cheerfully.

The four friends, bewildered at the guildmaster's behavior, looked at Chatot confusedly. Chatot smiled sheepishly. "Yes, the guildmaster can be a bit... peppy at times, but you get used to it." he said.

"So, to register your team, we need to know your team name. What is it?" Wigglytuff asked with a smile.

"Team name? Oh no, we didn't think of that!" Dusty exclaimed, looking at the others, causing them a panic. "Maybe we can come up with one right now!" Katty said in her panic. "I think Carlos should determine our team name. He is the one who had the idea of forming a team in the first place," Hazel suggested. Everyone agreed to this.

"Okay, um... How about Team Awesome?" Dusty asked him.

"Well, that seems a bit too vague. I think our team should have a unique name," Carlos replied.

"Oh! How about Team Quadraped?" Katty suggested.

"I don't know... it's a bit too educative. Our team's name should come from our hearts," Carlos said.

"How about Team Freedom Fighters?" Hazel asked him.

"Well... it has a nice ring to it, but I think our name should be a bit shorter. Plus, I'm not sure, but I think that 'Freedom Fighters' is already copyrighted with something else," Carlos explained, trying to remember where he heard the name before.

"Well, what do you think the team name should be, Carlos?" Dusty asked.

"Um... Well..." Carlos was trying to think of a good name for the team, so he tried to remember what has happened to him so far. That's when it hit him. "Team Destiny! That could be our team name!" he exclaimed. His friends seemed to like the idea, so Carlos walked over to Wigglytuff. "Our name is Team Destiny," he said. Wigglytuff nodded. "Okay," he said, "registering Team Destiny... yoom-TAH!" He shouted in a super loud voice, making Chatot and the others jump.

"Oh, I almost forgot. This is for you," Wigglytuff said before dropping a small, yellow box in front of the newly formed Team Destiny. Carlos walked over to open it and took out its contents one by one.

First, he took out a bag of badges. "These badges are proof that you are an exploration team. The extra ones are for other team members, which you can recruit, but they won't be official team members," Wigglytuff explained as the members of Team Destiny each put on a badge.

"Uh, I have a question," Carlos said. "How do we recruit other pokémon?"

"Well, pokémon might take a liking to you and want to join your team. You can accept them, but they won't be official members, so they can't go on guild explorations," Wigglytuff explained.

Carlos also took out a rolled-up paper. When he unrolled it, he and the others saw a map. "This is your wonder map. You can use it to find your way to other areas," Wigglytuff explained.

"Wow, look at all of these places! Who would've thought that the world was so big!" Hazel said, admiring the wonder map.

Finally, Carlos pulled out a brown bag with a single strap. "Ooh, and this is your treasure bag. You can store items that you buy or find, like berries. Also, I left you a little something," Wigglytuff said happily. Carlos dug through the bag until his paw hit something. He pulled out a blue ribbon.

"That ribbon will boost your special attack power by a bit. Whoever wears it is up to you, Carlos, since you're the leader," Wigglytuff said. Carlos didn't need to think twice, as he went over to Hazel and tied the ribbon across her neck. "There," he said. "It looks good on you." This comment caused Hazel to unnoticeably blush. Wigglytuff smiled. "There. Now you're ready for adventure, friends!" he said enthusiastically.

Chatot walked over to Wigglytuff. "Thank you, guildmaster. I will leave you now and direct our new apprentices to their room." With that, he directed the newly formed Team Destiny out of Wigglytuff's room.

"Okay, so your room will be in the narrow hallway. It's the third door to the left, and there's enough room to fit at least twenty pokémon, so you won't have to worry about a loss of space," Chatot explained. "Training starts early tomorrow, so be sure to get plenty of sleep, but it's still noon, so feel free to look around and get to know the other apprentices," he said before walking away.

"So... what do we do now?" Dusty asked awkwardly.

"Hello. You must be the new apprentices. Would you like a tour of the guild?" someone behind them said. They turned around and saw a piplup and a chimchar smiling at them.

Carlos stepped forward. "Um, if you don't mind me asking who exactly are you two?"

"Oh, right," the piplup said. "I'm Piplup, and this is my best friend, Chimchar. We're Team Poképals."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Piplup and Chimchar," Carlos said. "I'm Carlos, and these are my friends: Hazel, Dusty and Katty. We're Team Destiny."

"Nice to meet you as well. So, do you still want that tour? We could introduce you to all of the guild members," Chimchar said.

"Yes, that would be nice. Thanks," Carlos said, appreciative of the team's offer.

"No problem. It's always good to help newcomers," Piplup said cheerfully. "Now, let's get started."

* * *

**Author's Note: If you want an explanation, Team Poképals did graduate, but they decided to stay at the guild. Also, I won't be able to update daily, but I can do it every 2-4 days. Next chapter isn't really eventful, it's just the tour of the guild. Until then, see ya!**


	7. Chapter 6: The Guild Members

**Author's Note: Yay, I've reached 180 views! Amazing! But I'm starting to feel kinda bad. I think I'm losing my writing skills. I mean, nobody has asked me for an OC in quite a while. They would really forward the story, but for now, I'm running out of ideas. If I had more characters, it would be easier, so I'm going to create my own. On top of that, I was unable to access my account for a while, so I'm really sorry for the delay. By the way, in case you haven't noticed, I take a huge disliking to Chatot. Well, until the situation at Brine Cave, that is. Enjoy.**

* * *

"Okay, so let's start with those two over there," Piplup said as he pointed to a diglett and loudred standing near a hole. The two teams walked over to them. "Hello, guys. Team Destiny, these are Loudred and Diglett. Guys, these are Carlos, Dusty, Hazel and Katty." Chimchar said.

"Hey, rookies! I hope you plan on working hard, because we take our jobs SERIOUSLY!" Loudred boomed. This made everyone hold their ears in pain. Suddenly, realization hit Carlos. "Wait. Were you the one who was screaming when we stepped on the grate?" Carlos asked Loudred. "Yup!" he replied proudly. "You almost blew out my eardrums!" Carlos yelled back, earning a slight flinch from Loudred.

"Yeah, he yells a lot," Diglett said. Carlos looked at him. "Oh, you must be the sentry," "Yes. I'm in charge of identifying pokémon by their footprint," Diglett explained."It helps to prevent intruders from entering the guild. Anyway, it's nice to meet you." A dugtrio suddenly popped up from under the ground next to Diglett. "It's nice for us to meet you too. I am Dugtrio, his father." Dugtrio said. "Oh, it's a pleasure to meet both of you!" Katty said enthusiastically.

"All right, let's introduce you to some other apprentices," Chimchar said. He led them over to a sunflora and a corphish, who were talking.

"Hi, Sunflora and Corphish. I'd like you to meet Team Destiny," Piplup said. Sunflora turned around and saw the aforementioned team, but her eyes quickly set upon Carlos. "Eek! You're shiny! How did that happen? Eek! Are you special?" Carlos just stood there, confused at Sunflora's way of talking. "Hey, hey! Don't drown a rookie with questions, Sunflora," Corphish said. "He needs his energy, hey, hey!"

_"__Oh goody,"_ Carlos thought sheepishly, _"so almost everyone here has a speech affliction."_

"Hey, hey, why are you shiny, anyway?" Corphish said to the shinx. "Um... I don't really know," Carlos said.

"Heh heh heh... got some new friends, Piplup?" a smug voice said from somewhere. Everyone turned around and saw a croagunk. "Oh, hi Croagunk. This is Carlos, and these are his friends: Dusty, Katty and Hazel," Piplup introduced.

"Heh heh... It's nice to meet you guys. Hope you enjoy work at the guild... heh heh heh..." Croagunk said. _"Okay. That's not creepy at all,"_ Carlos thought sarcastically.

"So," Piplup began, "how are you guys enjoying your tour?"

"It's really good," Carlos said. "You guys must have been apprentices at this guild for a long time to have known so much about it."

"Actually, until you guys joined, we were the rookies," Chimchar mused.

"Wow, I did not see that coming," Carlos said, bewildered at this. "So, is there anyone else we have yet to meet?" "Well, you could say hi to me, yup yup," a voice from behind him said. The two teams checked behind them to see a smiling bidoof.

"Oh, yeah! Guys, this is Bidoof. He used to be the guild rookie until we showed up. Now we're good friends," Piplup said. "Yup yup, it's true! So you must be the new rookies. What are your names?" Bidoof asked.

"Well, I'm Carlos," Carlos said.

"My name's Hazel," Hazel said, a bit timidly.

"I'm Dusty," Dusty stated proudly.

"And you can call me Katty," Katty calmly said.

"Well, it's mighty fine to meet you all, yup yup," Bidoof said, still smiling.

"Likewise," Carlos said. "You seem like a nice guy."

"Well, everyone in the guild is nice," Piplup said. "It's kind of our thing."

"Yeah, and the guildmaster is especially cheery," Dusty remarked. "Well, Chatot has told us that it was because of his constant eating of perfect apples," Chimchar said.

"What are perfect apples?" Carlos asked.

"They're really juicy apples that give pokémon, like the guildmaster, an excess of energy," Chimchar explained to him.

"It's true. Once, me and Chimchar were sent to get perfect apples," Piplup said before shuddering. "It was one of the most traumatic experience ever."

Before they could chat anymore, a ding could be heard throughout the room. A chimecho came from another room. "Everyone! Dinner's ready!" the chimecho announced. Team Destiny heard everyone cheering.

Carlos could suddenly hear a faint rumbling. _"Wow, I must be starving,"_ he thought, as everyone made their way to the dinner table.

* * *

Everyone was seated in front of what looked like plates of fruit salad. Team Poképals and Team Destiny were sitting next to each other. The guild members then proceeded to quickly devour their meals, while the two teams ate at a slower pace.

"Wow... This is really good!" Carlos said, eating another apple slice.

"I'm glad you like it," a chimecho said, floating next to him. "I made it myself. Cooking is kind of my specialty. I don't believe we've met. I'm Chimecho," she said cheerfully, earning the dinging sound she makes.

"Nice to meet you, Chimecho. I'm Carlos, the leader of Team Destiny, and these are my teammates; Hazel, Dusty and Katty," Carlos introduced while the other three simply waved at Chimecho.

After a while, everyone had finished their dinners and we're heading to their rooms. Team Destiny went over to their room, which actually had a door.

"Huh. Why would this room have a door and not the others?" Carlos wondered.

Chatot heard this and walked over to Carlos. "Well, to be honest, you are a large team, and this room was actually made to hold many teams, so we gave it to you. Make sure you enjoy it. I had to pull a lot of strings to get such a large room," he finished.

"Wow... Thanks, Chatot," Carlos said, surprised at the nice gesture.

"No problem. Now, you should go to bed. We wake up early, so you all need plenty of rest," Chatot said as he walked off to the guildmaster's room. The four pokémon then walked into their new room. When they looked around, they saw that the room was circular and big. Very big. They also noticed 8 beds of hay around the room.

_"__Yeesh, talk about overkill..."_ Carlos thought.

"Wow, this room is so amazing," Hazel said, admiring their new room. "If we do our best and try our hardest, we might become the best pokémon exploration team ever!" This made Carlos remember something crucial.

"Um, Hazel? Can I please talk to you... alone?" he asked, glancing at Dusty and Katty so they would understand. They seemed to get the message, but Hazel was a bit confused. "Sure," she said. Dusty and Katty left the room to give them privacy.

"Hazel, look, I can't think of an easy way to say this but... I'm not who you think I am," Carlos said.

Now Hazel was completely confused. "What do you mean, Carlos? You seem like a very nice pokémon," she said happily.

Carlos winced at the thought of her reaction. "No, that's what I mean," he said. "I'm not a pokémon, I'm a human."

Hazel's eyes widened. "Wait, so you're a pokémon?" Carlos nodded. "I don't know how I got here or why I'm here, but until then, I'm going to get used to this life," he explained. "But if you don't mind, can you not mention this to anyone? I don't want to receive any unwanted attention,"

Hazel smiled kindly at him. "Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. Besides, even if you were a human, you're still nice," she said. The other two team members walked back into the room.

"Hazel, we're sorry that we kept this a secret from you. We wanted to tell you at the right time," Katty said.

"It's okay guys. I understand that this secret was important to you," Hazel reassured.

"She's right," Dusty remarked. "We should never allow secrets to tear this team apart, so from now on, we should all swear an oath to never keep secrets from each other."

They all agreed to Dusty's arrangement and put all of their paws together. "I swear by the bond of Team Destiny to never keep secrets from my fellow teammates," they all said in unison.

"Okay, how did we all know exactly what to say and exactly when to say it? Dusty wondered aloud.

"Well, it looks like we know each other better than we think," Katty commented.

"We are all friends, after all," Carlos said. "Now, let's get some shuteye. We need to get up early if we want to make a good first impression on the guild."

They all agreed and each pulled out a hay bed for themselves and laid them out in different areas... in a way. Dusty laid his bed right next to Katty's, and Hazel put hers next to Carlos'.

"So... tomorrow's our first day as apprentices at the guild. What do you think it'll be like?" Hazel whispered to Carlos after a few minutes of silence, since Dusty and Katty had already fallen asleep.

"I don't know, but the training sounds tough," Carlos replied just as quietly, "but I'm sure we can do it. I believe in all of us."

Hazel smiled at this, then yawned. "You're right. Good night, Carlos."

"Good night, Hazel," Carlos said back. "Sleep well..." he added before falling asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, I've decided to add special episodes occasionally, and trust me, they're going to be REALLY long compared to regular chapters. However, they won't be relevant in any way to the regular chapters. Look forward to next chapter!**


	8. Chapter 7: First Day Of Work

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! It's time for a new chapter. Oh, and please review. It's actually really encouraging to hear your feedback. Even if it's beneficial criticism, reviews are much appreciated. Beach Cave belongs to PMD. Enjoy!**

* * *

Carlos was sleeping blissfully on the floor. He was awake, but he just wanted to lay down with his eyes closed. He had amnesia, but he knew that he had never felt so-

"ALL RIGHT, ROOKIES!" an extremely loud voice boomed throughout the room. "GET UP!" Carlos opened his eyes groggily to see Loudred standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.

"WELL!? ARE YOU ALL GONNA GET UP OR WHAT!?" Loudred yelled, causing Hazel, Dusty and Katty to wake up with a start. They all rubbed their ears in pain.

"Man, what is your problem?" Carlos said, annoyed. "Can't you just shake us awake or something. I'm kind of a light sleeper."

"JUST WAKE UP! THE GUILDMASTER DOESN'T LIKE US TO BE LATE, AND YOU DO NOT WANT TO MAKE HIM MAD!" Loudred said, shuddering at the thought of a raging Wigglytuff. Then he left the room.

"Is this seriously how we have to wake up every day?" Dusty asked disappointedly.

"It looks like it," Katty said with just as much disappointment.

"Wait... Loudred said the guildmaster doesn't like latenesses," Hazel pondered, "so that must mean... Oh, no! Guys, we overslept!" she deduced, quickly running out of the room. The others followed closely behind.

* * *

When they got to the main room, they lined up next to everyone else.

"HEY, ROOKIES, YOU'RE LATE!" Loudred bellowed.

"Hey, Loudred, you're annoying!" Carlos mocked.

"Both of you, hush!" Chatot scolded. A few seconds later, the guildmaster came out of his room. "Ah," Chatot said, "now we can recite the cheers. All together now," Everyone then chanted in unison while Team Destiny tried to keep up. "One: don't shirk work! Two: run away and pay! Three: smiles go for miles!"

"All right, everyone. Time to go to work!" Chatot cheered.

"HOORAY!" they all shouted. Everyone then proceeded to go off in different places. Chatot went over to Team Destiny. "Since you are all new, I will assign you with your first mission," he said as he led them they climbed up, Chatot directed them over to the bulletin board on the left.

"Now, this is the Job Bulletin Board. Here you can choose missions to go on," he explained. "What are the missions like?" Hazel asked. "Well, that depends on what kind of mission you pick and how it's graded," Chatot began.

"First, I will explain mission types. These specify exactly what you have to do in the mission you have. Basic missions involve rescuing pokémon who are lost or retrieving items to them. Slightly advanced missions include the delivery of items or escorting pokémon. When you complete these missions, the client gives you a reward," he summarized. "All of these missions take place in mystery dungeons, by the way."

_"Mystery dungeons?"_ Carlos thought. "Um, Chatot... What's a mystery dungeon?"

Chatot was about to speak, but he was interrupted by Hazel. "Ooh, I can tell you all about them!" she began excitedly. "Mystery dungeons are strange places. Every time you enter one, its layout changes. You can also find different items in them, but there are also vicious wild pokémon that will attack you as well." Chatot looked pleased by Hazel's knowledge of mystery dungeons. "Well, you certainly are prepared for this aren't you? Also, there's a catch: if you are knocked out in a mystery dungeon, you will lose half of your money, along with a majority of your items as well," he added.

"Now, let me talk about ranks. Missions are ranked from E to A. There are higher-ranked missions, but you're nowhere near ready for those, so for now, I'll select an E-rank mission for you," Chatot said as he looked at the board, trying to find Team Destiny a suitable mission. Finally, his eyes rested on a piece of paper. "Ah, this will do nicely," he said as he plucked it off the board and handed it to Carlos.

He began to read the note: " 'Help! My friend is trapped in Beach Cave and I can't find him. I just hope he doesn't hurt himself... he can be a bit... random at times. Will someone please find him?' The client is a zorua, the location is a mystery dungeon called Beach Cave, and under reward it says poké. What exactly is poké?"

Dusty spoke up. "Poké is the currency we use to buy things." Chatot was miffed as to how Carlos didn't know what mystery dungeons and poké were, but he shrugged it off. "This mission is perfect. Beach Cave is a good beginner's dungeon, and it's a simple rescue," he remarked. "To get there, you simply leave the guild and walk down the steps until you reach the beach. The dungeon is at the edge."

"Thanks, Chatot," Carlos said before Chatot walked away to patronize another team. Carlos turned around to his teammates. "All right, guys. We should head there right away. We already have three oran berries," he added, signaling to the treasure bag that he had put on him.

"Okay. Let's go," Katty said as they all exited the guild and walked over to the beach.

"Wow, this place is beautiful. We really should come here more often," Katty said. She then spotted something in the distance. "Oh, look! I bet that's Beach Cave over there. Come on, let's go!" she said, running off to the mystery dungeon, with the others closely behind until they were directly in front of it.

"This is it. Our first dungeon. Are you all ready for this?" Carlos asked, slightly nervous. When they all nodded, he calmed himself down. "Okay, let's go," he said as they all entered.

* * *

**Beach Cave**

**B1F** \- On the first basement floor, Team Destiny started roaming around.

"Wait... What are we even looking for?" Carlos asked his teammates.

"Well, to put it bluntly, we have to find the stairs in order to get to the next floor, but we also have to watch out for wild pokémon," Dusty explained to him.

With that out of the way, they all walked around the corridors of the cave until they finally found the staircase... which was unfortunately guarded by a spinarak. "I got this!" Carlos said as he unleashed a powerful tackle on the spinarak, knocking it out. The four friends then proceeded down the staircase.

**B2F** \- On the second basement floor, the first thing that they took note of was the items scattered around the room. Carlos went to go pick them up and returned to his friends to show them what he got.

"Okay, so I got five pebbles that we could probably throw as projectiles, coins that add up to 47 poké and a pink berry," he said.

"The pink berry is a pecha berry," Dusty said. "It heals you from poisoning."

"Ok, good to know," Carlos said as he put the items in the treasure bag and moved on. They found the stairs and proceeded down again.

**B3F** \- When they got to the third basement floor, Carlos felt something weird and looked down to see that he was on the staircase.

"Wha-Wha-How is that-I don't even-" Carlos stuttered, trying to process what was happening.

"Let's just go," Katty said as they went down the stairs.

**B4F** \- The fourth basement floor was a breeze, until Hazel was injured by a corsola, to which Carlos strategically healed her and headed down the stairs again. When they arrived, they came to an opening and saw a riolu, who had extra black fur, trying to find his way out.

_"This must be the lost pokémon,"_ Carlos thought. "Hey, kid. We came here to rescue you."

"Well, I could've beaten these losers up myself, ya know," the riolu said, making punching motions with his fists and smirking proudly. "By the by, the name's Anubis," the riolu, Anubis, added.

"Since we're already here, we should probably get you back home, Anubis," Carlos replied. "Uh, Chatot said something about raising my badge like thi-"

Carlos didn't get to finish his sentence as they were all teleported away.

The next thing they knew, they were all back at the guild, where a zorua and Chatot were both waiting.

"Anubis!" the zorua exclaimed, running over to hug him. "Don't worry, Vixi. I told you I could make it out alive," Anubis said with a proud smile.

The zorua, Vixi, was on the verge of tears. "Only because of an exploration team. Don't ever do anything that stupid." She then turned to face Team Destiny. "Um... Thank you for rescuing my friend. Here's your reward," Vixi said, handing Carlos a large amount of coins. After counting them, he gasped.

"2000 poké!? Are you sure!?" he asked, astonished. "Of course. Bye, now. Come on, Anubis," Vixi said as she and Anubis left the guild. Chatot walked over to the team, who was still astounded at the money they made.

"Congratulations on your first mission. Now, I'll take that," Chatot said as he took the poké. "Most of the money goes to the guild, and this is your share," he said, handing Carlos 200 pokè.

"What!? We only get ten percent?" they all screamed in unison. "Sorry," Chatot replied, "but that's just the guild's rule. By the way, dinner is ready," he added before walking to the guildmaster's chambers. Team Destiny started to make their way over to the mess hall.

_"I SOOOO hate that guy!"_ Carlos thought.

* * *

**Author's Note: Look forward to the next chapter, since this one was a bit long. Anubis and Vixi both belong to November Red Angel.**


	9. Chapter 8: The Darkhound Duo

**Author's Note: All right! This chapter is a bit interesting, so I hope you enjoy it. By the way, should I write about dungeons, skip a few floors, or just skip writing about them? Also, another topic I want to touch: I don't plan on letting anyone on Team Destiny evolve, for anyone who wants to put in OCs. Enjoy!**

* * *

When Team Destiny arrived at th mess hall, they say down and everyone was about to dig in to more fruit salad until Chatot stopped them.

"Listen up, everyone! I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have an announcement," he said. This earned various groans and angry shouts from the apprentices, but Chatot quickly silenced them. "This is serious!" he continued. "You should be on the lookout for two dangerous outlaws who call themselves the Darkhound Duo. They have committed many kidnappings and somehow evaded capture. Now, with that settled... Let's dig in!"

Everyone proceeded to quickly eat their food when they were done, they all headed to their rooms to turn in for the night.

When Carlos and his team got to their room, they all laid down on their beds. Dusty and Katty had no trouble falling asleep, but Hazel was worried about something, so she turned to Carlos.

"Carlos... What if we were stuck having to fight the duo that Chatot mentioned? How could we handle them?" she asked worriedly.

Carlos held her paw. "Don't worry, Hazel. After today, I can tell that we're more than capable. Besides, I'll be there for you no matter what," he said warmly.

Hazel smiled at this. "Thank you, Carlos. That's a nice thing to say. Good night," Hazel then laid down and fell asleep. Carlos did the same, but he had a thought before he did:

_"You're too pretty to be harmed."_

* * *

After another rude awakening from Loudred, the four friends were up and ready to go adventuring. After everyone recited the cheers, everyone dispersed. Chatot walked over to Team Destiny. "Come with me. Today, you're going to do something a little different," he said. He led them to the first sub level, like yesterday

However, this time, they were led to the bulletin board on the right.

"Hey, Chatot," Carlos asked, "why are we going to a different board this time?"

"Yeah, and what's with all of these pokémon?" Hazel asked, noticing that the papers on the board had pictures of pokémon.

"No," Chatot answered. "All of these pokémon that you see... are outlaws. They're wanted for committing crimes."

"Wait. So you mean that we're going to try to stop outlaws today?" Hazel asked worriedly. Chatot nodded. "Your performance on the last mission was so good, I decided that you were all ready to take on an outlaw. If you want, you could go to Treasure Town to prepare," he said.

"Good call. Come on, guys," Carlos said as the four of them walked up the steps and exited the guild to go to Treasure Town.

* * *

When they got there, Hazel decided to guide them. "Okay, guys. I'm usually around here, so I know this place well. I'll give you guys a tour," she said. Everyone seemed happy with this arrangement, so Hazel began to show them around.

First, she brought them over to a store being run by a duskull. "This is duskull bank, which is run by Duskull," she said. "Nice to meet you guys. Especially you, shiny. You must have some money to deposit, right?" Duskull asked.

Carlos took out all of the money they had. "Here, we have 247 poké. Put it under the account name 'Team Destiny', please." "You got it. I'll guard it with my life... hee hee," Duskull said with an eerie tone.

"Okay, next is the marowak dojo, run by Marowak. Here is a place where you can train and become stronger," Hazel said as they walked over to a building with Marowak standing in front. "Anytime you need to hone your skills, just come here," Marowak said.

Next, Hazel brought them to a store that was run by two Kecleon, one was purple and the other was green. "These are the Kecleon brothers. They run a general market," Hazel said. "That's right! I sell goods and supplies," the green Kecleon said, "and I sell orbs and TMs," the purple Kecleon said right after.

Hazel took them to a booth run by a kangaskhan. "Finally, this is Kangaskhan storage, which is run by Kangaskhan," she finished. "Hello, sweeties. Anytime you need a storage, I can guarantee your items are safe with me," Kangaskhan said. Right as she finished, a small conversation could be heard near them. When the four friends turned around, they saw a marill and an azurill talking to a poochyena and houndour.

"Wait, I know those two!" Hazel said, running over to them. The marill and azurill saw Hazel and smiled as she hugged them. "Guys, it's been so long since I've seen you," Hazel said gleefully. "We haven't seen you in a while either, Hazel," the marill said.

"Hazel, you know these kids?" Katty asked curiously. Hazel turned to them. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. These two brothers are Marill and Azurill. These are Carlos, Dusty and Katty, my team members," Hazel explained. "Wow! You're on an exploration team, AND you have a shiny companion!? That's awesome!" Marill and Azurill said together. The poochyena suddenly got a fearful look. _"But... That kid shouldn't be here. The boss was supposed to end him,"_ he thought, glaring at Carlos.

Carlos noticed this. "Uh... Is something the matter?" he asked the poochyena. "No," the poochyena growled. "Azurill, Marill, we gotta go," he said to the two brothers.

"Right," Marill said. "Oh, I almost forgot! You two didn't introduce yourselves."

"The name's Darkburn," the houndour, Darkburn, replied.

"Darkfang," the poochyena, Darkfang, said lowly.

"They were helping us. You see, we want to get our mother a gold ribbon for her birthday, but they're hard to come by," Marill explained. "Darkburn and Darkfang heard our conversation and told us that there were many gold ribbons at this dungeon called Mt. Coral. They even offered to guide us to the top."

"Yeah, and we should get going. Now, if you'll excuse us..." Darkburn said, walking past Team Destiny with the two brothers in tow. Darkfang walked past them, but noticeably shoved Carlos on the way.

_"Jeez! What'd I ever do to him?"_ Carlos thought, provoked by Darkfang's attitude. All of a sudden, he started to feel dizzy and slightly wobbled back and forth.

_"Okay... This feels weird. What's going on?"_ Carlos wondered as the dizziness overcame him. Suddenly, a flash of white blinded him.

* * *

_When he opened his eyes, he wasn't in Treasure Town anymore. He was in a rocky terrain surrounded by beautiful assortments of coral. But up ahead, he saw two figures closing in on Marill and Azurill. Upon closer inspection, he saw that the two figures were Darkfang and Darkburn._

_"Well, I bet your mother would pay a fine price for your well-being," Darkburn pondered._

_"Someone! Help us!" Azurill cried out, tears in his eyes._

_"Don't worry, Azurill. Someone will come help us," Marill said reassuringly to his brother._

_"Oh, and who would that be? It certainly won't be your big-shot friends or that annoying shiny pokémon," Darkfang said, laughing. That was the last thing Carlos saw before he was blinded by another white light._

* * *

When Carlos opened his eyes again, he was still in Treasure Town, like nothing had happened. _"Wait, so... Did-did I... have a vision?"_ Carlos thought, bewildered. Then his eyes widened. _"So... Those two are in trouble! We've gotta help them!"_

"Gee, I sure hope those two kids find their mother a present," Hazel said. Then she noticed Carlos' panicked expression. "Carlos, is their something wrong?" she asked, which got Dusty and Katty's attention.

Luckily for Carlos, Chatot was in the town, along with Team Poképals. Carlos ran over to Chatot. "Chatot, who are the members of the Darkhound Duo?" he asked frantically.

Chatot looked surprised. "A poochyena and a houndour, but why does that-" He didn't finish as Carlos ran off to the crossroads. His friends then put two and two together and realized the situation, running after Carlos.

"What is the meaning of this!? Piplup, Chimchar, go see what all the commotion is about," Chatot ordered. The team nodded and went off as well.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carlos and his friends had reached the crossroads. Carlos pulled out the wonder map. "You all see where this is going?" Carlos told his friends. They nodded frantically while Carlos studied the map and pointed to a purplish mountain. "Okay, they were headed for My. Coral, which is here, so we'd better get moving!"

Before they left, Team Poképals had caught up with them. "Carlos, what's going on?" Piplup asked. "It's a long story, but we think the Darkhound Duo may have kidnapped Marril and Azurill," Carlos quickly replied.

"Oh no! We have to save them!" Chimchar shouted. With that, the six pokémon made their way to the mystery dungeon.

* * *

After a while, they made it to Mt. Coral's base.

"Okay," Piplup said, "Chimchar and I will go on ahead. You guys go on when you're ready, okay?" Team Destiny nodded. Piplup and Chimchar went into the dungeon.

"This'll probably be dangerous... Are we all ready?" Carlos asked to his teammates.

"All ready," Dusty answered.

"Same here," Katty replied.

"We can do it," Hazel said.

"All right. Let's do this," Carlos said as they all entered the mystery dungeon.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, what did you guys think? Darkburn, Darkfang and Mt. Coral belong to me, by the way. Next chapter is going to be REALLY interesting, trust me.**


	10. Chapter 9: An Epic Transformation

**Author's Note: Time for one of the most interesting chapters in this fanfic. There will be lots of surprises here... Well, only two. But anyway, I'm in the market for an OC that can be the legendaries' messenger. But act quick, because I need to use that character for the end of winter break. Also, happy Presidents Day. Speaking of which, enjoy winter break! And this chapter!**

* * *

**Mt. Coral**

**1F** \- On the first floor, there was nothing of interest, besides a corsola or two and 87 poké.

**2F** \- On the second floor, however, there were many corsola, geodude and shellder. Carlos, who had just learned charge, had an easy time withstanding the special attacks, unlike his teammates. Especially Hazel, who had a huge disadvantage, so Carlos insisted on shielding her while Dusty kept tackling the enemies and Katty desperately used her attract. Eventually, they were able to find the stairs.

**3F** \- On Mt. Coral's third floor, Carlos was able to pick up nine sticks, a pecha berry and an apple before finding the stars being guarded by a geodude, which was taken out by an ember from Hazel, followed by a tackle from Dusty.

**4F** \- The fourth level of the dungeon was no cakewalk. There were many geodude which made up for plenty of experience, but they were at a large disadvantage. When they finally fought off all of the geodude, Dusty had minor but painful scars, Carlos and Katty had moderate injuries and Hazel was on the verge of collapsing.

Carlos pulled out three oran berries and gave one to Katty and Hazel. "Dusty, since you don't have major injuries, we'll wait a bit," Carlos told him. Dusty nodded in understanding. After a bit more walking, they managed to find the stairs.

**5F** \- On floor number five, Carlos noticed that the scenery was starting to look like the scenery he saw in his vision. "Guys," he said, "I think we're getting close." So they upped their game and learned a handful of new moves in the process, too. Dusty would use his damage to power up his flail, Katty would use attract to prevent most of the pokémon from moving, which slightly bothered Dusty, and Hazel would use her roar to send pokémon flying backwards while Carlos threw pebbles at the pokémon until the group was able to find the stairs.

**6F** \- When they got to the sixth floor, there were barely any pokémon to fight. Not only that, but the team started to get eerie vibes... Almost as if tension was rising. Carlos picked up 42 poké and three apples. He took out the other Apple and the four helped themselves to a snack. After that, Carlos found the stairs, along with what he thought was an oran berry, so he went to go pick it up.

"Carlos, wait!" Dusty said as he stopped Carlos' paw, "don't touch that, it's an oren berry!"

"Wait, so... Are you saying that this is a lookalike item that brings bad effects, or is autocorrect seriously failing us right now?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah, it's a lookalike that can damage you if you eat it. You have to look really close in order to recognize one," Dusty explained, "and don't EVER break the fourth wall!"

"Hey, this gives me an idea... " Carlos said as he picked up the oren berry and went up the stairs.

**7F** \- On the seventh floor, there were no pokémon at all, and the feeling of tension rose to the point of fear, but the four friends pressed onwards anyway. When Carlos found a yellow seed, Katty sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness. That's a reviver seed," she said, "it revives a fainted pokemon."

As they continued searching, Hazel noticed a part of a wall that looked a little off. "Hey guys, come look at this wall," she said, directing her friends to the wall. "See? Part of this wall's design is a bit crooked.

"Wow, you're right," Carlos said as he reached out to touch the wall. When he did, part of it fell off, revealing a golden treasure chest.

"Whoa. I think we should open this later, guys, we have brothers to save right now," Carlos said, cramming the chest in his treasure bag. After some more walking, they reached the stairs.

Before climbing up, Carlos looked at all of his teammates. "Guys... This'll be one of the hardest battles we have. Are you all ready?" he asked them. They all nodded in anticipation for the epic brawl that was sure to ensue. "All right. Let's do this," Carlos said as they went up the stairs.

* * *

When they reached the top of the steps they saw Azurill, Marill, Darkburn and Darkfang walking towards a dead end, so they hid behind a rock to avoid being seen. Soon after, Team Poképals emerged from the steps.

"Guys, hide," Carlos whispered, signaling them to hide behind the rock. The three of them watched as the other four reached a dead end.

"Oh no... We've gone through the whole dungeon and we haven't even found a single gold ribbon," Azurill said.

"No, but me and Darkburn here have found our captives," Darkfang said with a grin. He and Darkburn started to close in on the brothers, who started to back away in fear.

"Wait," Marill said, "what are you saying?"

"Well, I bet your mother would pay a fine price for your well-being," Darkburn pondered.

"Someone! Help us!" Azurill cried out, tears in his eyes.

_"This is just like in my vision! We've got to do something!"_ Carlos thought.

"Don't worry, Azurill. Someone will come help us," Marill said reassuringly to his brother.

"Oh, and who would that be? It certainly won't be your big-shot friends or that annoying shiny pokémon," Darkfang said, laughing.

"Wrong answers," Carlos said, jumping out of his hiding place to confront the Darkhound Duo, his friends doing the same.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the same team from before," Darkburn said, walking over to them.

"Yeah, and it looks like the stupid shiny is here, too," Darkfang snarled.

"Guys, can you handle these two? Me and Chimchar should go get the police," Piplup said.

Carlos nodded. Piplup and Chimchar left to find the police.

"Okay, you guys handle Darkburn while I handle Darkfang," Carlos directed. His friends looked shocked. "Carlos, are you sure about this?" Dusty asked. "Don't worry, I've got this," Carlos replied. So Carlos' friends went to confront Darkburn.

"Even with three of you, do you really think you can beat me?" Darkburn sneered cockily.

"Of course! No one kidnaps those brothers and gets away with it!" Hazel shouted.

"Hmph. Just try to stop me!" Darkburn yelled as he charged at them.

* * *

"So... You've told your friends that you want to fight me alone, huh?" Darkfang said. "That's a big mistake."

"Whatever. I'll show you that there's more to me than shine," Carlos shot back.

"I highly doubt that," Darkfang replied as he and Carlos charged at each other.

**MAJOR BOSS FIGHT #1: Darkburn and Darkfang**

**[_Pokémon RSE: Team Aqua/Magma Battle_ music]**

Darkburn started off with an ember, which was quickly avoided by the three.

Dusty tackled Darkburn and used defense curl when necessary, while Hazel roared to keep him at bay and Katty kept using attract to immobilize him. It was barely a fight, and they had him down in forty-five seconds.

"All right, now let's go help Carlos!" Hazel said. As she started to run, Dusty held her back. "Hazel, this is Carlos' fight, and we need to respect that," he told her. She nodded sadly. _"I just hope he knows what he's doing... "_ she thought.

* * *

Carlos was doing okay, but Darkfang was doing better. Carlos' leer wasn't working on Darkfang, who kept using howl to get stronger. Carlos used tackle over and over in an attempt to hit him, but he couldn't land a direct hit. Darkfang, on the other hand, was able to consecutively bite Carlos, leaving major damage on him.

"This is pathetic. It's like you're not even trying," Darkfang taunted. That motivated Carlos to land a hard tackle on him.

This angered Darkfang, so he ran up to Carlos and dealt a brutal bite to his leg.

"AHHHH!" Carlos cried in pain as he was flung back and into a wall. He didn't have the strength to get up. Darkfang walked over until he was looming over Carlos, smirking. Carlos' friends watched the scene in horror.

"See? You could never amount to me, no matter what," Darkfang growled. "You failed."

_"H-He's right, I failed. I failed the Marill and Azurill, I failed my friends... I failed Hazel,"_ Carlos thought miserably.

_You didn't fail, you just got knocked down._

_"W-Wait, who said that?"_ Carlos wondered confusedly.

_Yeah! You can pick yourself back up and give it your all, Chosen One!_

_Right! Don't give up, Chosen One!_

_There's no surrender! Not with you, Chosen One!_

_We believe in you, Chosen One!_

_"Okay, this is getting kinda weird,"_ Carlos thought. _"What's with all of these voices, and why do they keep calling me 'Chosen One'?"_

_See, Chosen One? We all have faith in you. You can do anything when you're determined. Here is a gift from us to you. It will help._

Carlos suddenly felt a surge of energy run trough him, which instantly made him get back up. This caused Darkfang to get startled and back away slightly. It also surprised his friends. Carlos felt like he was overflowing with energy. That's when he noticed his fur. Instead of its usual gold gleam, it was turning a sparkling cyan. Also, the tip of his tail, the bands around his front paws, his ears and his eyes went from Orange to a shimmering gold. When the process was finished, Carlos' friends looked at him in awe, and Darkfang looked at him in slight fear. Carlos looked at him and smirked.

"So... What was that about you saying I could never amount to you?" he asked cockily.

* * *

**Author's Note: Gasp, an amazing and epic cliffhanger! Also, I'm bad at making battle scenes, so just use your imagination. By the way, just in case anyone else wants to request an OC, I'll put up the OC template here:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Species:**

**Appearance:**

**Personality:**

**Background (optional)**

**Love Interest (if they have one):**

**Talents:**

**Just PM me to request an OC. See ya next chapter!**


	11. Chapter 10: A Shocking Outcome

**Author's Note: Oh my god, I seriously need to apologize for the two week delay on this chapter, and I hope you all aren't mad. With that said, time for an interesting chapter full of shocks and surprises, so get ready for a wild ride. By the way, including my own OCs, I can only allow a few more requested OCs to be on Team Destiny. Enjoy!**

* * *

Darkfang was now staring at the cyan shinx fearfully. _"So it's true... He's capable of so much power... "_ he thought, but he quickly shrugged off his fear and got into a battle stance.

"Whatever. You're still just a weakling, glow stick!" he yelled at Carlos and started charging at him in an attempt to bite him. When he got close enough, Carlos merely sidestepped out of the way, which left Darkfang to crash into the wall.

He quickly got back up and charged at Carlos again, who was standing in front of a rock. Carlos jumped over Darkfang, who ended up running headfirst into the rock.

"All right. If you're done, I'm going to attack now," Carlos said. He started to charge up his energy until he had a cyan outline.

"PLASMA BOLT!" he shouted as he fired a large cyan bolt at Darkfang, sending him crashing into another wall and dealing high damage.

Carlos got ready to do another attack on Darkfang, who was barely able to get up. "CYAN SLASH!" he shouted. His paw started to glow intensely as he ran at Darkfang and delivered a powerful blow, which ended up knocking him out.

"I... I did it..." Carlos said weakly before falling on the ground. His body glowed slightly before losing its gold and cyan color, and Carlos was back to being gold. His friends ran over to help him up.

"Carlos," Dusty began, "what was that?" Carlos didn't know what had happened or how it happened.

"I don't know... I just heard all of these voices in my head and then I felt a surge of energy flowing through me," Carlos explained. Suddenly, Darkburn and Darkfang got back up, groaning in pain. Team Destiny got into battle stances.

"Ow, my head. Good thing we packed some warp seeds, huh, Darkburn?" Darkfang told his partner. "Actually, we only have one," Darkburn said awkwardly.

Darkfang looked annoyed by this. "So what do we do now?" he asked. Darkburn slowly pulled out the warp seed. "Yeah, this ain't happening. You're on your own," he said as he ate the seed and warped away.

"YOU DIRTY LITTLE-" Darkfang began, but at that moment, Piplup and Chimchar arrived with a magnezone followed by some magnemite, who instantly pinned Darkfang down. The magnezone floated over to Team Destiny before noticing the two terrified brothers. "BZZT! MAGNEMITE, ESCORT THESE TWO BROTHERS BACK TO TREASURE TOWN," the magnezone said. Before they left with the magnemite, Marill and Azurill thanked the team for coming to help them.

"BZZT! GREETINGS. I AM OFFICER MAGNEZONE, THE POLICE SHERIFF. WERE YOU THE ONES WHO WERE ABLE TO APPREHEND THE VILLAIN OF THE DARKHOUND DUO?" the magnezone asked. "Actually, we were trying to get another one; Darkburn, but he got away. Carlos was able to singlehandedly defeat the other one," Dusty explained, motioning over to Carlos.

"WELL THEN, THANK YOU FOR YOUR BRAVE EFFORTS, CARLOS," Magnezone said to Carlos. "Let's all talk back at the guild," Carlos said as he raised his badge, sending Team Destiny, Team Poképals, Magnezone, the magnemite and Darkfang back to the guild.

* * *

When they all teleported back to the guild, Chatot and the guildmaster, along with the other apprentices, we're waiting for them.

"CARLOS, AS A REWARD FOR APPREHENDING DARKFANG, YOUR TEAM SHALL GET 5000 POKÉ, BZZT!" Magnezone told Carlos. "Great. My partner stabs me in the back, and now I'm being arrested," Darkfang muttered.

Carlos started to feel bad. _"Betrayed by his own partner... That's gotta bite. I need to help him,_" he thought. Before Magnezone left, Carlos stood in front of him. "Officer, may I please ask a favor from you?" he asked the sheriff.

"BZZT! OF COURSE," Magnezone replied. Carlos whispered something to him, and Magnezone got a shocked look. "THAT WILL TAKE A LOT OF RESPONSIBILITY. ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS?" Magnezone asked, his voice filled with concern despite the fact that it was robotic. Carlos nodded. "I'm positive."

With that, Magnezone turned to everyone in the room, who were all confused. "EVERYONE, BY CARLOS' REQUEST, INSTEAD OF GOING TO JAIL FOR 10 YEARS AS NATURALLY PLANNED, DARKFANG WILL BE ASSISTING TEAM DESTINY FOR HIS PUNISHMENT. BZZT!" he announced.

"WHAT!?" everyone, even Darkfang, exclaimed in bewilderment.

Dusty, Katty and Hazel went over to Carlos. "Carlos, what are you doing!?" Dusty said rashly to him. "In case you don't remember, Darkfang tried to KILL you!"

"Guys, look. I understand that Darkfang is a jerk, but he must have gone through hard times; especially with his partner abandoning him," Carlos said, "but with our help, I'm sure that he could turn over a new leaf." Dusty sighed. "Fine, but he'd better not try anything!"

**_Darkfang joined the party!_**

"Okay, it's official," Carlos told everyone, "As of now, Darkfang is a part of Team Destiny. Even if he's an outlaw, you should all treat him as a natural apprentice, okay?" When he saw everyone nodding, though reluctantly, he smiled. "Thanks, guys, I really appreciate it," he said happily.

Magnezone hovered over to Darkfang. "REMEMBER, WE'LL BE WATCHING YOU IN CASE YOU DECIDE TO GO ROGUE," he said before he and the magnemite left the guild.

Darkfang was still stunned at what had occurred. He glanced at Carlos. _"Why did he help me when I was such a jerk to him and his team? What's wrong with him!?"_ Darkfang thought. Suddenly, there was a dinging sound.

"Oh, dinner's ready!" Chimecho said as everyone suddenly rushed to the mess hall.

* * *

After everyone was finished eating, the now enlarged Team Destiny headed to their room. When they went in, Carlos grabbed a spare bed from the back of the room and handed it to Darkfang.

"Put that bed wherever you want to," Carlos told him.

"Listen, kid, I gotta talk to you," Darkfang said as he pulled Carlos outside the halls where he made sure no one was listening. "Why are you sticking your neck out for me, even after what I did?"

"If you resort to kidnapping young pokémon for a living, then it gives a clear sign that you've had a bad childhood," Carlos answered. Darkfang was in astonishment. "How... How did you know that?"

"I can tell. Also, I'm not saying that you need to be nice... I just hope you can cooperate with us, okay? Carlos said. "Yeah, sure, whatever," Darkfang huffed in annoyance.

"Thanks," Carlos said with a smile. He suddenly remembered something else. "Oh, yeah! We should open the treasure chest now."

Darkfang raised an eyebrow. "Treasure chest?"

"Yeah, in the dungeon, Hazel found a gold treasure chest in a wall. I've got it right here," Carlos said, patting his treasure bag before walking back into the room, followed by Darkfang.

Everyone gathered around as Carlos gave the treasure chest a hard tackle, successfully breaking its lock. When he went to open it, he gasped.

"What? What's in it?" Katty asked. Carlos responded by pulling out four colored scarves. "So, this yellow one is a defense scarf, this red one is a power band, this green one is a zinc band and this blue one is just a plain ribbon," Carlos explained.

"I'll take the zinc band," Dusty said as he got the green band and tied it around his neck.

"I'll take this defense ribbon," Katty said, taking one of the red scarves and tying it around her head like a bow.

"Guess I'll take the blue one, like I care," Darkfang muttered as he snatched the plain ribbon and tied it around his neck, too.

"Looks like that leaves me with this power band," Carlos said as he tied the red ribbon around his own neck. Then he noticed something. "Hey, it looks like there's some things left in the treasure chest." Everyone watched as he pulled out some kind of disk that had the words 'Rock Smash' engraved on it.

"Cool, it's a TM!" Dusty exclaimed. "It's a disk that teaches a certain move, but only to certain pokèmon."

"Well, tomorrow we can put it in our storage, but I think that we should get to sleep now," Carlos said. So everyone got to their beds, Darkfang secluding himself away from the others. Eventually, Carlos was the only one awake.

_"__Wow, today was a long day,"_ Carlos thought to himself, _"but I think I made the right choice. Darkfang may be an outlaw, but I'm sure that deep down, he has a big heart."_

After that, Carlos fell asleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a cave, Darkburn was standing in front of a pokemon who was in the shadows. Darkburn appeared to be nervous.

"So, Darkfang turned on us and joined the boy's team, hm?" the voice of the shrouded pokemon said. "But you and Evan are still here."

"Forgive me, sir, but I had to-" Darkburn started.

"Why do you keep calling me 'sir'!?" the voice said angrily. The pokémon then stepped out of the darkness, revealing it to be a shinx, but it's back paws weren't colored black: a sure sign that the shinx was female. "I may be your boss, but I'm also a girl, so treat me like one!"

Darkburn bowed his head. "Sorry, ma'am."

"Thank you," the shinx said. "Now, please get me my satchel. I'll see to it myself that this 'hero' is stopped."

"A-Are you sure!? Don't you need help!?" Darkburn said in surprise. "What if he beats you!?"

The shinx glared at him. "First of all, I'm the boss here, so of course of I'm sure. Second of all, I can hold my own weight against five people. Third of all, I'm pretty sure I can beat a mere fifteen year-old."

"But... Aren't YOU fifteen as well?" Darkburn asked before he was electrocuted by the clearly angered shinx.

"Did I ask you about my age!? Now stop with the questions and get me my satchel!" she screamed.

"O-Of course, Sharese," Darkburn said before walking away.

_"__This shinx may have beaten my minions, but let's see how he handles one of his own kin,"_ the shinx, Sharese, thought.

* * *

**Author's Note: Once again, I'm sorry for the delay, and I'll try to go faster. Another thing; for anyone who likes long stories, don't worry, because I can guarantee that this story will be at least 50 chapters long. On a related note, after about 25 more chapters, I was thinking of starting a new story, and I have a handful of fresh ideas. I'll give you a basic idea of each one, and write a review on which one you want to read:**

**Paper Mario - Sticker Star was such a letdown for me, I really wanted to make a better storyline. I don't know how many chapters it'll have, but I'll work hard on the storyline. It involves the main character, which is Carlos: my OC. BTW, all of my stories involve my OC, Carlos. Just saying.**

**Sonic The Hedgehog - A storyline that's pretty similar to Sonic Rush, for anyone who's played that game. I won't spoil what species my OC is, but, like I said, it'll be Carlos. Sonic games also have awesome plots, so I wanna try that as well.**

**The Legend of Zelda - It's gonna be hard to incorporate my OC into this, but I think I can. Link will be the main character in this story, however, and it will involve the Master Sword and Triforces; with a small twist.**

**Yoshi's Island - Yeah... Not much to say about this one.**

**The Legend of Spyro - Yup, you read that right. I, for one, was very disappointed when Skylanders was released instead of the continuation of the Legend of Spyro trilogy. This story will take place right after the events of The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon. Also, I will be pairing Spyro and Cynder.**

**Anyway, that's all. So, remember to review with your thoughts on the chapter and the story that you think would be the best pick. I'll make my decision after I get ten reviews on it. By the way, next chapter will blow your mind.**


	12. Special Ep 1: Video Games

**Author's Note**

**PlasmaShinx77: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first special episode of this fanfic! I'm gonna go ahead and explain the rules of special episodes for you all. First of all, they're going to be a lot longer than regular chapters, so look forward to that. Second of all, they are not relevant to the plot in any way; they are just short stories. Third of all, there won't be any spoilers of any later OCs, so don't worry. Well, that's all of them. Now, onto announcements. As far as votes go, I'd like to give a thank you to the person who placed the first vote, November Red Angel, who voted for a Legend of Spyro fanfic, which I actually look forward to, but there's still 9 other people who can cast votes. When I complete this story up to chapter 20, I'll make a decision depending on the votes that I already have, but Legend of Spyro has a good chance of winning. By the way, I do not own any consoles, videos or games that are mentioned.**

**Carlos: Hey, I wanted to do that disclaimer!**

**PlasmaShinx77: Fine, then just say it again...**

**Carlos: Yeah! PlasmaShinx77 doesn't own any consoles, videos or games that are mentioned in this special episode.**

**Hazel: Congratulations, Carlos! You shone like a star!**

**Carlos: *blushes* Th-Thanks, Hazel!**

**PlasmaShinx77: Whatever. Now, without further ado, time to laugh our…whatevers off.**

* * *

"Come on, rookies!" Loudred bellowed through Team Destiny's door before leaving. Inside, five pokémon woke up, groaning.

"Dang, my ears hurt," Carlos said with a groan.

"Someday, I'm gonna kill that guy..." Darkfang said, angry for being woken up so early.

After they all go up, the members of Team Destiny went to recite the cheers. Right after, Loudred came back with a large package. "Loudred, what's that?" Hazel asked curiously. "I don't know, but it was sent to Carlos, so take it," Loudred said, in a normal voice this time.

Carlos unfolded the large package. When he looked inside, he gasped. He pushed the package to his room and motioned for Dusty, Hazel and Katty to follow. Everyone else left to do their jobs. Darkfang, however, followed his team as well.

* * *

When the four friends got to their room, Carlos shut the door and looked at his teammates. "Guys... I remember this stuff. It's... It's human stuff," he said. His friends looked at him in shock. When Darkfang entered the room, everyone quickly hid their shocked expressions.

Darkfang looked at them suspiciously. "Are you runts hiding something?" he asked. "No, I was just saying that I've heard about the stuff in this box," Carlos said quickly. "What's in the box, anyway?" Katty asked with wonder.

Carlos emptied the box. First, he pulled out a smaller, black box that was about his size and had various buttons. Then, he pulled out a smaller black box that had buttons too and a label that read 'PS3'. After that, he pulled out five differently colored cases that all had 'PS3' written on them as well, along with various pictures and words. Lastly, he pulled out a book labeled 'Instruction Manual'.

Everyone looked at the objects in wonder as Carlos started to explain. "This big black box is called a television. You can watch things or play games on it. The wires help to power it. These buttons can turn it on and off, or make it louder or quieter. This smaller box is called a playstation3. You need to use the other wires in order to connect it with the television to play games. These cases hold the games that you could play, and these small things with buttons are called controllers. You use these to play the games. Do you goys want to try them out?" Everyone nodded. Carlos laid out the five cases and told them to each pick one.

"You should go first, Carlos. You clearly know a lot about this stuff," Hazel said. Carlos nodded as he looked at the five cases in hopes of finding a game that he liked. His eyes finally set on a certain case. "I pick this one!" he exclaimed gleefully as he took a case. His friends went over to look at Carlos' choice.

The case he took showed a picture of two dragons battling some kind of monster, along with a label that said _The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon._

Carlos seemed to be satisfied with his choice. "I remember... This was one of my favorite games," he said. "Hazel, you can pick now."

Hazel looked at the remaining cases, looking for something fun, but mild. "Carlos, can you help me? I'm looking for something fun, but mild," she told Carlos. He smiled and pointed at a case. Hazel looked at the cover. It showed a pixilated human holding a pickaxe, with the word _Minecraft_ on the top.

"This is a good game where you can create your own world without any limits," Carlos explained. Hazel seemed excited by this. "Wow! Thanks, Carlos!"

Darkfang was up next. "Give me something that isn't childish," he told Carlos, who instantly knew the perfect game for the poochyena and pointed at a case. Darkfang picked it up. There were no pictures on the cover; only words that said _Call of Duty: Black Ops. _"Trust me, that game suits you," Carlos said.

Dusty looked at Katty. "Um... You can go next," he offered. "Thanks, Dusty!" Katty said happily as she walked over to the two remaining cases. "Ooh, this one looks fun," she said, picking up a case that showed a sort of animal running with two really different sides, along with the words _Sonic Unleashed._

Dusty was the last one. He picked up the last case, which read _LEGO Indiana Jones. _"Hm. This game looks good," he said.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, let's decide who should go first," Katty said. "I think that we should go from oldest to youngest," Hazel said. Darkfang looked satisfied. "So that means I get to go first. So, let's start this game up!" he said as he read the instruction manual to find out how to get it started.

"Oh, I almost forgot! I have to do something!" Carlos said as he looed forward. "My fellow Fanfiction readers; the following dialogue will include spoilers on the five aforementioned games. If you do not know their plots and don't want to read these spoilers, I suggest that go on YouTube and watch their cutscenes. If you don't know the plots but read on anyway, you might not understand it clearly. Also, Darkfang's part may include minor swearing. By the way, I do not own any of the consoles or games or televisions that I mentioned earlier."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"What? What did I do?" Carlos asked.

Darkfang facepalmed. "Man, you're weird," he said as he started the game up and picked up a controller.

* * *

Darkfang had been playing the game for 45 minutes and was starting to get frustrated.

Someone from the game shouted something. "Shut it, Reznov! I know I'm supposed to grab the damn harpoon!" Darkfang yelled angrily. Carlos watched as Darkfang was killed for the eighth time. "Darkfang, just shoot the harpoon at the helicopter and don't let them shoot you. It's not that hard."

"Shut up, small fry!" Darkfang hissed angrily.

* * *

After two hours and fifteen minutes, Darkfang was finally finished with the game.

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Darkfang began. "Reznov wanted revenge badly, so he made Mason swear allegiance to him by hacking into his BRAIN!?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Carlos said.

"That is messed up on SO many levels!" Darkfang said, shaking his head and ejecting the game from the console. "Well, who's up now?"

"Well, whoever's the second oldest," Carlos said. "I'm fifteen."

"So am I," Dusty said.

"I'm fourteen," Katty said.

"I'm also fourteen," Hazel said.

"So it's either me or Carlos," Dusty said. "You can go next, Carlos, since you seem really passionate about that game." Carlos smiled. "Thanks, Dusty. That means a lot."

Carlos took out the game from the case and installed it into the PS3.

* * *

Carlos was ten minutes into the game and he was already running from a golem.

"So," Hazel began, "the purple dragon is Spyro, a prophecized dragon, and the black dragoness is Cynder, a former nemesis of Spyro?"

"Well, yeah," Carlos said. "In this game, you can play as both of them, and each know four types of moves: Spyro can use fire, ice, electricity and earth, while Cynder can use fear, shadow, wind and poison."

Dusty was just looking at the screen as Carlos finished off the golem. "Wow, that was a persistent guy," he said.

* * *

Carlos was about an hour and a half into the game. Katty had walked out of the room and returned five minutes later with five apples. She gave one to Hazel, Dusty and Darkfang. She offered one to Carlos.

"Not yet. Too busy defending Warfang," Carlos said, addicted to the game.

Katty sighed. "Okay, but know your limits," she said in a kind of motherly tone.

Hazel soon finished her apple. "I'm gonna go talk with Marill and Azurill. I'll be back in a half hour," she said as she got up and left.

* * *

When Hazel returned, Darkfang was looking out the window and glaring at the sky and covering his ears. She also saw Dusty and Katty trying and failing to comfort Carlos, who was crying on the floor. The video game appeared to be finished.

"Um... What did I miss?" Hazel asked awkwardly.

"Well, about twenty minutes after you left, Carlos was able to beat the final boss, and a cutscenes played. Spyro and Cynder had sacrificed themselves in order to prevent the world from splitting apart, but just before they did, Cynder whispered 'I love you,' to Spyro. Carlos responded to that by saying: 'That was the saddest and most romantic thing I've ever seen! Why didn't they continue Legend of Spyro!?' and spontaneously crying. Me and Katty have been trying to comfort him for the last ten minutes," Dusty explained as he motioned over to Katty, who was hugging Carlos in an attempt to calm him down.

"W-Why d-did they h-have to end the Spyro series?" Carlos said in a shaky voice. "It could've been the best franchise ever."

"Shh... It's okay, Carlos. Sierra lost their rights to Spyro, and I'm sure that they can earn him back," Katty reassured.

"I just wanted to know what happened after Spyro and Cynder saved the world," Carlos said sadly.

Katty put on a warm smile. "Well... I probably shouldn't be saying this, but the author is apparently planning on writing the prologue after this special episode as a sneak peek, and you're gonna be in it. Then he'll continue and finish the story during the start of summer vacation."

Katty! That was supposed to be a surprise for the viewers, and now it's ruined.

Carlos sniffed. "R-Really?" he asked in a quivering voice.

"Yeah, and don't worry about Spyro, because I'm sure that everyone else agrees with you," Katty said. "Viewers, write a review in order to show your support for Carlos and to give him hope for Spyro's future."

"Um... Katty, don't break the fourth wall. That-That's my thing," Carlos said.

"Okay," Katty said with a smile. Then she turned to Dusty. "Well, it's your turn to play."

"Finally!" Darkfang exclaimed. "I thought that obnoxious crying would never end!"

Dusty sighed at Darkfang's impoliteness as he inserted his game and began to play.

* * *

Fifteen minutes after he started, he was already running from a giant boulder.

"Dang it!" Dusty yelled as he fell into another chasm. "How do these people expect me to cross all of these chasms?"

"Hey, here's a thought - try jumping," Carlos said sarcastically.

"Oh... Right," Dusty said sheepishly as he started jumping, successfully avoiding the chasms.

* * *

"Who's idea was it to ride this broken track in the first place!?" Dusty asked as he swerved left, avoiding another gap in the mine cart tracks.

"Actually, it was yours," Carlos reminded him.

"That was a rhetorical question, smarty," Dusty said, annoyed.

* * *

After three whole hours, Dusty had finally beaten the game. "Wow, that was pretty cool."

"Actually, you could've beaten the game in an hour less-" Carlos began. This had caused Dusty to finally snap. "Says the guy who spent ten minutes gushing over Spyro and Cynder! By the way, this 'Skylanders' thing that you kept insulting - it actually sounds a bit better than the Spyro series!"

That caused something to blow up inside of Carlos. "What... What did you say?" he asked, shaking uncontrollably.

"I said that Skylanders is better than Spyro!" Dusty exclaimed.

Carlos walked over to Dusty and led him out of the room. He returned without Dusty after five minutes.

"Carlos, where's Dusty?" Hazel asked.

"Don't worry, he's in a safe place," Carlos reassured. "Now, I think it's your or Katty's turn."

"You can go, Hazel," Katty said. "Thanks, Katty," Hazel said as she inserted her game into the PS3.

* * *

"So, what do I do?" Hazel asked as she wandered for a few minutes.

"Well, you should get some wood to build a crafting table," Carlos said. "Then you can craft things."

"Really?" Hazel asked, intrigued. "What kinds of things?" Carlos then spent ten minutes explaining the basics of Minecraft to Hazel.

"So... I need to hunt for food, build shelter and craft things in order to live out the night?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, but you've already found shelter and food. Now you just need to make a bed," Carlos said.

* * *

"Hazel, you need to get out of there now!" Carlos said worriedly.

"I don't see what the problem is. Caves aren't that scary, they're just-" Hazel didn't get to finish her sentence as something blew up and killed her character.

"... What was THAT?" Hazel asked.

"A creeper," Carlos said. "'THAT' was a creeper. They dwell in dark places and blow up in your face, which is what I tried to tell you!"

"Oops. Well, I guess I'm done for the day. Katty, you can go," Hazel said, not wanting to have an encounter with another creeper.

"Sure, why not?" Katty said as she inserted her game and grabbed a controller.

* * *

Team Destiny had just finished watching the opening cutscenes in awe.

"Hey... Do you think we could've become were-pokémon if we were exposed to darkness, like Sonic?" Hazel asked nervously.

"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that would require some kind of bite," Carlos replied.

* * *

Most of the game was uneventful, so Katty was able to beat it in two hours. "Hm. Not exactly an eventful game. It didn't have much soul put into it, and the were-hog gameplay was kind of lame."

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of bland," Carlos said, "but I wouldn't say soulless. Oh, and speaking of soulless things; where's Darkfang?"

"He went to go take a walk, but enough about him. Where's Dusty?" Hazel asked, causing Carlos to sigh. "Fine. Follow me."

* * *

Carlos led Hazel and Katty to the edge of town, where there was a cliffside that resembled a shark.

"Piplup and Chimchar told me about this place," Carlos explained. "It's called Sharpedo Bluff. It's Chimchar's home, and he and Piplup sleep here sometimes, but he said that Team Destiny was welcome to use it anytime if we keep it a secret."

"Wow, that's really nice of them," Katty said. "So where's Dusty?"

Carlos removed a bush, revealing a hidden passage. The three of them entered into a hollow space. Carlos went over to the edge and pointed down. "Over here."

Katty and Hazel looked down and gasped. A terrified Dusty was hanging from a rope with a paper and ink. "Carlos, can you pull me up now?" he asked.

"Well, did you finish with the writing?" Carlos asked. Dusty threw a paper at Carlos, who caught it. It had: 'Spyro is better than Skylanders and always will be' written on it 20 times. Satisfied with Dusty's punishment, Carlos pulled him up.

"We never speak of this to anyone," Dusty said in a terrified manner. Everyone nodded.

"Let's head back to the guild before Darkfang finishes his walk," Hazel said. The team started to go but Carlos stayed behind. "I'm gonna go deposit some items in storage," he said. Everyone else left.

Carlos went over to Kangaskhan Storage and deposited the items in his treasure bag. "Thank you! Your items will be safe with me, sweetie!" Kangaskhan said in a gleeful tone. "Oh, and has the merchant found you?"

Carlos gave her a quizzical look. "What merchant?" he asked.

"Oh, so she hasn't," Kangaskhan said. "There was a female merchant in a brown cloak wandering around here, looking for you. She told every store owner to tell you to meet her at the crossroads to give you something. I offered to hold it here for you, but she said that she wanted to meet with you personally."

"Hm. Well, I guess I'll go see her," Carlos said. He said his goodbyes to Kangaskhan and headed for the town's crossroads.

* * *

When Carlos got there, he saw a figure, about his size, wearing a small brown cloak. _"That must be the merchant,"_ Carlos thought. The figure walked over to Carlos.

"Why, hello, Carlos," the merchant said in a slightly raspy voice. "It's really nice to meet you in person."

"Lady, I don't want to come off as mean, but who are you, how do you know my name and why have you been looking for me?" Carlos demanded. The merchant sighed. "Well, I can't tell you my real name, so... Um... Just call me Ibelec. I know your name because you and your team are rising stars. As for why I came here, I have orders to give you something, so here," she said, handing Carlos something square and gray. It was about half his size.

"Um... Thanks?" Carlos said confusedly. "No problem. Now, I will take my leave," the merchant said as she flew away. Carlos headed back to the guild in confusion.

* * *

When he got back to his room, he saw Katty and Hazel trying to calm an angry Dusty while Darkfang was laughing his head off about something.

"What'd I miss?" Carlos asked awkwardly.

"Nothing, but I'll tell you what I didn't miss - this kid getting hung off a cliff!" Darkfang said in hysterics.

"IT'S NOT FUNNY!" Dusty yelled angrily.

"Guys, just calm down and look at this," Carlos said as he put the grey square on the floor and unfolded it. Everyone gathered around to see it. "What is that thing?" Katty asked.

"It's called a computer," Carlos said as he turned it on and went to the YouTube screen. "It has something called Internet, where you can watch videos, so let's watch something."

"Ooh, how about that video?" Dusty said as he pointed to a video related to 'the birds and the bees'. "Sure, let's watch it," Carlos said as he clicked on the video.

* * *

"TURN IT OFF!" Carlos yelled, covering his eyes. Dusty quickly shut the computer off. All of the team had been deeply disturbed by the video, except for Darkfang.

Carlos looked at him in bewilderment. "Darkfang, how could that not disturb you?"

"Because I'm twenty, runt, and I already know about this stuff," Darkfang replied.

Dusty turned the computer back on. "Well, let's watch another-"

"NOOOO!" Carlos screamed as he grabbed the computer and threw it out the window. "O-Kay... We still have the PS3, so maybe we can-" Dusty began, but was cut off as Carlos grabbed the playstation3, the television and the games and threw them out of the window in that exact order. "NOOOO! NO MORE! I HAVE SUFFERED TOO MUCH INTERNAL DAMAGE TODAY, JUST END THE EPISODE ALREADY!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**PlasmaShinx77: Well that's a wrap, everyone!**

**Everyone cheers.**

**Carlos: Thank goodness! I don't know if I can take much more emotional damage.**

**Katty: Well, at least it's all over now.**

**PlasmaShinx77: Not for you, missy. We still have to discuss the matter of you spoiling the surprise that I was going to give a sneak peek of my _Legend of Spyro_ fanfic.**

**Katty: Oh, right... *smiles sheepishly* So what are you going to do?**

**PlasmaShinx77: Well, it's up to the viewers; if they want me to upload one or two chapters. I'll continue the whole story during summer.**

**Carlos: That's good... I think that you should do two... It would heal my pain.**

**PlasmaShinx77: Yeah... Sorry about that, but people DO love the _Spyro_ series. Oh, and that reminds me: Author's Notes are always going to be in this format during special episodes. Also, please review in order to:**

** \- Show your love and support for Carlos about the _Legend of Spyro_ series**

** \- Tell me what you think of this special episode**

** \- Say how many chapters of my next fanfic I should post as a sneak peek (1 or 2)**

**Carlos: It would mean a lot to us.**

**PlasmaShinx77: Well, see you all in 2-3 weeks, since I'll be busy with the sneak peek for a while; you know, since Katty RUINED it!**


	13. Chapter 11: Destiny vs Ember

**Author's Note: Oh my god, I am SO SO SO SO SO sorry that I haven't updated in, like, a month. But... On the bright side, I'm finally back after... Well, a long while... Sorry about that, Internet troubles :( . Anyways, here's a new chapter for you guys. By the way, I'm gonna explain how special episodes work: I'll put up a special episode for every story arc I complete. The first ten chapters are what I considered to be the "Wigglytuff Guild" story arc. As for the next special episode, it'll be up after approximately 12 more chapters. Who knows, I could be totally off. Also, from now on, I'll try to make chapters a little bit longer. So, please accept my heartfelt apology with this extra long chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Carlos woke up calmly. He saw that he was in some kind of meadow, and the sky was a light pink. Carlos looked around, but the area just seemed to expand infinitely._

_"Hello? Is anyone here?" he called out, in hopes of an answer._

_"I'm over here," a pure, feminine voice said behind Carlos. He turned around and was surprised to only see a pink and gray blur. "Um... Are you okay, ma'am? You look a bit... Blurry," he said._

_"I'm alright, but thank you for asking," the blur said. "Now, do you remember me at all?"_

_"No," Carlos said confusedly. He didn't know why he would remember a blur._

_The blur sighed. _"Thank goodness. I still need to know that he is ready..."_ The blur then refocused its attention at Carlos. "Okay, for starters, my name is Diancie."_

"Wait... Haven't I heard of that name before?"_ Carlos thought briefly, but he shrugged it off. "Nice to meet you, Diancie. My name's Carlos."_

_"Well," Diancie began sheepishly, "don't freak out, but I already know your name. I also know that you're a human."_

_"Wait, what!?" Carlos said in shock. "How do you know that? Where's the guild? And why are all these words in italics?"_

_Diancie sighed. "Well, to answer your second question, you're in a dream right now, which is the only way I can talk to you right now. To answer your third question, words will appear in italics in dreams, visions, thoughts, and when talking through telepathy."_

_"Okay, but I still don't know how you know I'm a human," Carlos said._

_"Well... I can't go into too much detail, but I need to know that you trust me. Do you?" Diancie asked. Carlos nodded. "Good. Now, this may come as a shock to you, but you actually have a very important role in this world."_

_"Really? What is it?" Carlos asked curiously, but a tremor occurred._

_"Sorry, I can't tell you now, you're waking up," Diancie said as she started to fade away. "Until we meet again... And good luck on your battle.__"_

_"Wait, WHAT!?" Carlos shrieked in terror._

* * *

"WAKE UP, LOSER!" someone screamed. When carlos stood up shaken, he saw Darkfang looming over him.

"Ugh. Do you feed off of my misery?" Carlos asked annoyedly. "Wish I did," Darkfang said in mock happiness. Carlos groaned. _"Well, at least he's not trying to kill us anymore,"_ he thought. His friends woke up soon after.

"Well, it looks like there's something that can actually make a louder sound than Loudred," Katty said, rubbing her ears. "I agree," Hazel said.

"Looks like Loudred isn't here yet," Dusty said, looking at the front door. "Let's go to recite the cheers before he gets here." With that, the team of five raced out of their room, passing a bewildered Loudred on the way and arrived at the main room.

After reciting the cheers, the pokémon began talking to each other until they saw Loudred talking at his sentry post.

"I'LL SEND 'EM RIGHT UP!" he bellowed before walking over to Team Destiny. "You have two visitors who want to see you upstairs!" he said in the quietest voice he could manage.

"Okay, thanks," Carlos said before turning to his team. "Who could that be?" he wondered. Dusty shrugged. "We don't really know that many people..."

"Well, let's go see," Carlos said as he led his team up the ladder. When they stepped outside, they saw two familiar faces.

"Oh. This is a pleasant surprise," Carlos said. "Anubis, Vixi, what brings you two here?"

"Well, we came to ask you guys for a favor," Vixi said softly. "Really?" Katty asked. "You want our help?"

"Straight up, bro!" Anubis said. Katty did not look amused. "I'm a girl," she said angrily.

"You know it, girl," Anubis replied.

"Who are these guys?" Darkfang asked. "These little guys are Anubis and Vixi. We met them after we had to rescue Anubis from Beach Cave," Carlos explained.

"Whatevs. I could've gotten out myself," Anubis said with a cocky smile.

"... Sure. So, what favor do you guys have for us?" Carlos asked.

"Well, Anubis told me that he lost something in a dungeon called Drenched Bluff, so I was wondering if you guys could help us," Vixi said shyly.

"Oh, we'd love to help!" Hazel said happily. "Let's check the wonder map." Carlos took out the wonder map and pointed at a specific location. "Drenched Bluff is right here. It should take us about ten minutes to walk there," he said. "Let's get going." After placing the wonder map back in the treasure bag, Team Destiny, Anubis and Vixi set off for Drenched Bluff.

* * *

After a lengthy walk, the seven pokémon finally reached the entrance to Drenched Bluff.

"Well, we're finally here," Dusty said. "Let's go in-"

"Wait!" Anubis said. Everyone turned to look at him. "Um... I gotta talk to Carlos for a sec."

Carlos nodded and led Anubis to a secluded area. "Okay, so what's the matter?"

Anubis sighed. "I... Didn't really lose anything. I just wanted help in finding a detect band for Vixi," he said. "I'm sorry to drag you into this. But the truth is... I kinda like her."

Carlos put a paw on Anubis' shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Liking a girl... We've all been there, buddy. This is a really nice thing for you to do." Anubis smiled. "You're right, man. Now, let's do it up in here!"

"Just promise me something, Anubis," Carlos said. Anubis looked at him. "Try to take battles seriously, okay?" Carlos asked.

"You got it, buddy!" Anubis said with a goofy smile that made Carlos laugh a bit. "Okay, let's get back to the group," he said as he and Anubis returned to the group. "Okay, let's go," Carlos said as they all went into the mystery dungeon, completely unaware of the four figures following closely behind them.

* * *

**Drenched Bluff**

**B1F** \- On the first basement floor, they immediately encountered a charging lileep. Carlos and his team braced for impact, but Darkfang just rolled his eyes and tackled it. "Lame," Darkfang taunted as the friends went to the next room, which harbored 43 poké and the stairs.

**B2F** \- On the second basement floor, they walked to their left and encountered an anorith, which was easily taken out by a tackle from Dusty. Going into the next room, they saw 69 poké and five geo pebbles.

All of a sudden, two corsola appeared from the next corridor. "Watch out!" Carlos yelled. Before anyone else could react, Anubis smashed one with a quick attack to the face and Vixi scratched another one, successfully knocking them out while the others stared in awe.

"What? Just 'cuz we're kids, it don't mean we can't lay down a beat down," Anubis said with a smirk. "... Right. Let's go on," Carlos said blankly. The seven pokémon walked through the next corridor, where they finally found the stairs.

**B3F** \- On the third basement floor, the team appeared in the same room as the stairs. Carlos picked up an apple before leading everyone down the stairs.

**B4F** \- On the fourth basement floor, the team landed in the same room as the stairs again, but Carlos saw a small treasure chest at the corner.

"Hey, guys, look at this!" Carlos exclaimed, pointing at the small chest. Everyone crowded around as Carlos opened the chest to reveal 250 poké. "All right!" Carlos said as he put it in the treasure bag. He also noticed a TM. He picked it up, read the label and smiled.

"Katty!" he said as she ran over. "This might come in handy," he said, handing her the TM. She smiled before they all went down the stairs.

**B5F** \- On the fifth basement floor, there were a handful of enemies to fight. Carlos dealt a quick attack to an oncoming lileep and Hazel finished it off with an ember. Three anorith and a corsola appeared in the room, so Carlos defeated one with a tackle, Hazel used a faint attack on another one, Anubis used a quick attack on the last one, and Dusty used a rollout on the other one.

"Whoa, that was intense," Anubis said as the team progressed over to the next corridor, where they found the stairs.

**B6F** \- On the sixth basement floor, there were no signs of pokémon besides a lone corsola, which was easily taken out with a fierce bite from Darkfang. As they walked down the corridor, they easily found the stairs and went down.

* * *

"Huh. Looks like this is the last floor," Carlos said as they arrived in the final chamber of the room.

"This stinks!" Anubis said in frustration. "We've gone through the whole dungeon , and no sign of a detect band!"

"Wait," Dusty said, "what are you talking about?" Anubis sighed. "Okay, the truth is... I didn't lose anything here." Everyone except for Carlos looked shocked.

"So why did you want to come here?" Vixi asked in confusion.

"Well... I-I wanted to get you a detect band," Anubis admitted, which made Vixi blush.

"Aww," Katty and Hazel said at the same time, gushing at the scene in front of them.

All of a sudden, four figures entered the room. However, they were in the shade, so Carlos and his team couldn't see them. "Sorry to ruin this touching moment, but we're here to ruin this touching moment.

Anubis stood in front of Vixi, who was trembling. "Who are you!?" she asked in fear. Suddenly, it hit Carlos as he glared at the figure that spoke.

"You," he said angrily, "I knew I heard that obnoxious voice somewhere."

"Aww, and here I thought you forgot us," Coal said as he and his team stepped out of the shade. Dusty, Katty and Hazel glared at the rival team as well.

"Gee, looks like they're all getting feisty," Cindy said with a smirk. This confused Carlos. "But... I thought you said that you weren't immoral."

Cindy scoffed. "There were people there, so of course I lied."

"And now it's time for that fight suckers," Coal said, "but first..." he unleashed a roar that blew Darkfang, Vixi and Anubis into the wall, which knocked them out. Carlos and his team gasped before returning their glared to the rival team.

"Knocking out 10 year olds... That's just low," Carlos said darkly. Coal huffed. "Anything to even the odds. Get them!" he shouted to his team.

"Hazel!" Carlos shouted. "You and I will handle Coal and Cindy. Dusty, Katty, you guys handle Fen and Leo."

"It's sad that you still think you stand a chance," Coal said.

"Oh yeah?" Carlos taunted. "Bring it on," he continued as the two teams lunged at each other.

**BOSS FIGHT #2: Team Ember**

**[_Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver: Rival Battle_ music]**

Carlos ran at Coal with a quick attack, but was dodged at the last second and sent flying into a wall. Hazel attempted to use a faint attack, but Cindy used a smokescreen to cloud her vision. While Cindy tried to follow up with a tackle, Carlos tackled her right back. Coal tried to hit him with an ember, but he jumped at the last second. All of a sudden, blue electricity surrounded him as he crashed hard into Coal. Hazel, who had cleared her vision, stared at Carlos in excitement. She ran over to him.

"Carlos! That was spark!" Hazel said giddily. "Cool! I learned an electric type move!" Carlos said proudly. All of a sudden, Hazel was hit and blown back by a dozen orbs. Carlos looked back as Coal used the same attack on him. Luckily, he dodged at the last second. "What the heck was that!?" He yelled.

Coal smirked. "It's hidden power," he said. "My team always uses TMs. You see, we never lose. And we won't lose now, especially with Hazel on your team."

This caused Carlos to lose his temper. "How dare you!? Hazel is a great fighter and an amazing friend! That's why she's part of the team! Because she's a good pokémon!"

Coal scoffed. "Yeah, right. You only keep her because you love her," he said teasingly. "It almost makes me feel bad that I have to fight you while you're likely fantasizing about her."

Carlos' face reddened. "W-What!?"

"Aw, don't worry," Cindy said, laughing, "we actually have a little proposition for you."

Carlos looked dubious. "Oh yeah? And that is?"

"Well, when we defeat all of your little friends, you can join our team. And don't worry about your 'girlfriend', 'cause if you're lucky, you and I can go out," Cindy said with a smile.

Carlos was on the verge of anger. "Okay, first of all, there's no way that you're gonna beat my friends, because they're strong and valiant. Second of all, I would never join you jerks. Lastly, you and me going out is about as likely to happen as PlasmaShinx77 becoming a Skylanders fanboy."

"Oh, we'll see about that," Cindy said as she blew a kiss to Carlos, causing a single pink heart to materialize out of thin air and circle around him. Hazel got up during this time.

"Hazel, what is this?" Carlos said as he tried to swat the heart away.

Hazel recognized the attack and looked in horror. "Carlos, watch out! That's-" Hazel didn't get to finish as the heart hit Carlos. When he opened his eyes, he... Was still normal. He smiled at Hazel. "Don't worry. No stranger's gonna get the best of me!" he stated proudly. Hazel sighed in relief.

Coal and Cindy laughed. "Well, we gave you a chance. Now you die!" Coal yelled. He and Cindy ran at Carlos, firing embers at him, but he jumped and dealt a powerful spark to Cindy, successfully knocking her out. As Coal prepared to use a hidden power on him, Hazel suddenly appeared in front of him and hit him with a mighty roar that blew him back and knocked him out.

"Hazel, that was awesome!" Carlos said.

"... So were you. Thanks for defending me back there," Hazel said in an appreciative tone.

"No problem," Carlos said with a smile. "Now, you check on the others, and I'll go help Dusty and Katty." Hazel nodded and went to go check on Anubis, Vixi and Darkfang, while Carlos went to the battle unfolding between Dusty, Katty, Leo and Fen.

* * *

Dusty and Katty were having a slightly easier time handling their rivals. Dusty used defense curl to protect himself and occasionally used a tackle, while Katty continuously tackled Fen, until Fen used a scratch to swat her away.

"Hahaha! Did you really think you could defeat me with that plain strategy?" Fen taunted.

Katty seemed amused. "Well, that wasn't the strategy, puff ball," she said as Carlos came running over. "Katty, I'm here to help!"

"Thanks, Carlos," Katty said with a smile. Fen pretended to gag. "What a disgusting moment. And for the record, I am not a puff ball. Ask anyone, I am as beautiful and pure as a goddess."

Carlos scoffed. "Really? 'Cause you'd be shocked at how people depict your evolution on the Internet."

Fen growled. "That's it!" she cried as she lunged at Carlos.

"Surprise!" Katty yelled as she opened her mouth and unleashed a large orb of water that flew at Fen and knocked her out.

"N-No... You knew water pulse?" Fen said weakly before fainting

"Hmph. Too easy," Katty said proudly.

Dusty, on the other hand, was in a heated battle against Leo. He kept trying to use tackle, but Leo kept dodging. Leo kept trying to use ember, but Dusty kept dodging.

"Wow, you really are weak," Leo said mockingly. "That girl is way too good for you." That was enough to drive Dusty way over the edge. "HOW DARE YOU!?" he shrieked as he unleashed a rollout that kept on hitting Leo until he, too, was knocked out. Carlos watched the whole thing as he ran over.

"Um... I... Came to... Help, but..." Carlos began.

"We already got things under control," Dusty finished. Hazel came over with the other three. "These guys are alright," Hazel said. Carlos suddenly noticed something that Coal was holding. It was a small treasure chest.

"Oooh, what's this?" Carlos wondered as he took the chest.

"Kid, ain't that stealing?" Darkfang asked.

"Of course not. I'm looting him, it's completely different," Carlos said slowly. Darkfang smiled. "Wow. Kid, I've got some newfound respect for you."

Carlos' eyes lit up. "Really!?"

Darkfang gave him a glare. "Don't let it get to your head."

"Whatever. Anyways, let's open this when we get back to the guild," Carlos said as he raised his badge and teleported everyone.

* * *

**Author's Note: Hope you all liked this! Once again, sorry for the huge delay. For the record, I do NOT plan on discontinuing this story. It's going on to the very end. By the way, should I talk about every floor on dungeons, or should I skip some? Anyways, see you all in... A week or two, hopefully. Oh yeah, I almost forgot: Every few chapters from now on, I'll tell you the current levels and moves of the members of Team Destiny. You know, so you all can keep up. I'll do this every five chapters... I think, but just tell me how often I should do this in your review:**

**Carlos - Level 13 Tackle/Leer/Charge/Spark**

**Hazel - Level 10 Ember/Faint Attack/Roar/Quick Attack**

**Dusty - Level 10 Tackle/Defense Curl/Flail/Rollout**

**Katty - Level 9 Tackle/Fake Out/Water Pulse/Attract**

**Darkfang - Level 13 Tackle/Howl/Bite/Odor Sleuth**

**Anubis - Level 8 Quick Attack/Foresight/Endure/Counter**

**Vixi - Level 7 Scratch/Leer/Pursuit/—**


	14. Chapter 12: A Big Announcement

**Author's Note: Well, the Internet is still out, and I had to upload the last part in McDonald's, so I am at a bit of a complicated situation, but when the Internet does come back, then I'll try to update at least once a week. Anyways, this chapter doesn't focus completely on Carlos and the group... At least in the middle. Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

Everyone sighed in relief as soon as they were safely in the guild.

"Man, that was tough," Carlos said. "Thank goodness it's over."

"I agree," Dusty said. "Say, what was in that chest you took from Coal, Carlos?" he asked. Carlos shrugged. "I don't know. Let me check," he said as he took out the small chest and opened it. When he looked inside, he groaned. "Oh, the irony of it all," he said, pulling out a purple ribbon and an orange ribbon. "Two detect bands," Carlos said flatly.

"So, they must've gotton the detect bands in order to corner us," Hazel said.

"Well, if they planned on beating us, that clearly didn't work out so well for them," Katty remarked. Everyone laughed at that comment. Carlos handed the orange band to Anubis, who tied it around his neck. He then handed the other one. "Give this one to Vixi."

Anubis looked confused. "Why are you giving me these? You found them," he said. "Our mission was to help you find a detect band. It makes you happy, so I'm doing it. That's what being on an exploration team is all about," Carlos explained.

Anubis thought about what Carlos said for a moment. _"Hmm. Maybe I could join a team in order to make Vixi happy."_ Then he looked at Carlos. "Okay, if that's true, then I want in!"

Now Carlos looked confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I want to join Team Destiny!" Anubis replied, which made everyone gasp. Vixi walked over to him. "Anubis... Why do you want to join them?" Anubis turned to look at Vixi. "It's like what Carlos told me. I want to make others happy... Like you," he replied.

Vixi blushed slightly. "In that case... Count me in, too!" she said enthusiastically.

Carlos thought for a moment. "They did prove that they could handle themselves... And the detect bands would protect them..." He looked at the two ten year-olds. He reached into his treasure bag and pulled out two badges and gave one to each of them. "Welcome to the team, guys!"

"Wow, thanks! We won't disappoint you," Anubis and Vixi stated in unison. "And I promise to be a little mature," Anubis added.

A bell was heard throughout the guild. "Dinner's ready!" Chimecho called.

"FOOD!" Anubis shrieked as he ran down the steps and to the mess hall. Everyone else groaned as they soon followed.

* * *

"Eek! You are the cutest things ever!" Sunflora exclaimed as she looked at Anubis and Vixi, who looked slightly uncomfortable.

Carlos chuckled lightly. "These are our two newest members," he stated. "Wow. You sure know how to make friends, Carlos," Sunflora replied.

From a distance, Wigglytuff and Chatot were watching Carlos.

"Wow, Carlos really knows how to make friends," Wigglytuff said. He looked at Chatot. "Is it possible that Carlos is... Special?"

"Well, Guildmaster, he is a shiny pokémon. Also, he really knows how to put up a good fight. Who wouldn't want to be his friend?" Chatot replied. Wigglytuff just kept thinking. "Dinner's over! Time to go to sleep!" he heard Chimecho say as everyone went to their rooms. _"Oh, I guess I should sleep on it,"_ the Guildmaster thought. He went to his own room, sat on his throne and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a faraway place hidden underground, Celebi was seen meditating. She opened her eyes and shook her head lightly. "This isn't good. I'd better go tell Diancie," she said flying to another room, where she found Diancie reading an ancient book of evolutions.

"Diancie, we need to talk. It's about the Chosen One," Celebi said. Diancie sighed and closed her book before floating over to Celebi. "Celebi, please. His name is Carlos, why can't you just call him that?"

"Because, not referring to him as the Chosen One is a disgrace to formality," Celebi stated indignantly.

Diancie sighed again. "Seriously? Who did you hear that from?"

"From you," Celebi replied bluntly.

"Oh," Diancie said sheepishly. "Well, forget it. Carlos is a very eloquent name." Celebi groaned. "I guess I'll give it a try." Diancie smiled. "Thank you. Now, what did you want to tell me about Carlos?"

"Well, the thing is... He seems to be losing track of his destiny. He's spending too much time exploring," Celebi explained to the now-shocked Diancie. "I don't get it. I spoke to him in a dream in order to tell him of his important purpose... Where did I go wrong?" Diancie said, sitting down. Celebi sat down next to her. "You didn't go wrong. To you, it was a message, but to Carlos, it must have been a weird dream."

"Hmm... You might be right about that... So we need to take a different approach," Diancie said. "I don't understand why we can't just visit the guild and tell him the truth?" Celebi wondered aloud.

"We can't just tell him! We need to know that he is ready and willing to fulfill his destiny!" Diancie shouted, making Celebi wince. Diancie sighed and closed her eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I'm just completely on edge."

"Don't worry, I know the feeling," Celebi said. "So what should we do?"

"Let's see..." Diancie began, "we need a way for him to know about this, but we have to take it slow so he won't freak out or go into disbelief." Suddenly, she knew the answer. "Of course! The answer's so simple!"

"What? What is it?" Celebi asked excitedly.

"I'll tell you later, but for now, I've got an old friend to visit," Diancie said as she disappeared.

* * *

At the top of a cave lay a secluded lake, which hid away one of the world's most valuable artifacts: a time gear, whose glow made the lake shimmer a sea green color. On the shore, there was a pokémon. It was approximately the size of Celebi, had a yellow and gray face with its eyes closed and a yellow crest like head, along with a red jewel encrusted on its forehead. It had two gray tails, which were also encrusted with red jewels. This was the legendary pokémon Uxie: the guardian of the lake.

Uxie heard some sort of noise behind him and turned around with his fists clenched. "Who's there!? Show yourself!" Uxie demanded. However, the only thing he saw was Diancie, which calmed him down a bit.

Diancie chuckled lightly. "Uxie, you need to calm down. Darkrai is defeated, so there's no need to be on guard 24/7." Uxie rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, but this 'new evil' ordeal has me all worked up, and I don't want to take any chances," he said. "So, what brings you here, Diancie?"

"Well, it involves... Him," Diancie replied. Uxie nodded. "I understand. So, what do I need to do?" Diancie leaned in closer and whispered her plan to Uxie.

"So I should wait until midnight to do it?" Uxie asked. Diancie nodded. "That would probably be the best time."

"I understand. I'll see you later," Uxie said as Diancie opened another portal and disappearing. Uxie sat down and concentrated on something that would set Diancie's plan in motion.

* * *

"Chatot, I'm telling you, it's true!" Wigglytuff exclaimed as he and Chatot headed to the the Guildmaster's quarters. Chatot sighed and turned to face Wigglytuff once the door was closed. "Guildmaster - with all due respect, this whole rumor going on about "approaching evil" isn't real. It's likely something that a crazy pokémon made up," he said.

"But Chatot, don't you believe in it at least a little bit?" Wigglytuff asked as he,prepared his throne. "Sorry, Guildmaster, but I only deal with the facts," Chatot replied as he perched onto his... Parrot sleeping thing. "Good night," he added before falling asleep.

Wigglytuff sighed. _"There's just no changing his mind. Oh well, he's probably right,"_ he thought before falling asleep himself.

* * *

_Wigglytuff awoke, surrounded by colors. "Hmm... What is this place?" he wondered. He turned around and was relieved to see a familiar face._

_"It's good to see you again Wigglytuff," Uxie said. Wigglytuff jumped in joy. "Oh, boy! It's my friendly friend Uxie! It's great to see you too, friend!"_

_Uxie gave him a small smile. "I can still remember the time your guild helped with the whole Time Gear fiasco. Those were some good times..." Then he put on a serious face. "But that's not why I'm here. I had to talk to you in private, so I came up in your dream."_

_"In private? Is there something wrong, friend?" Wigglytuff asked worriedly. Uxie put his head down in depression. "I'm afraid so. Are you aware of the new evil approaching us?"_

_"Of course! Chatot doesn't believe me, but I knew it!" Wigglytuff exclaimed. "Well, in order to discuss this issue in more detail, I need to ask a favor of you," Uxie told him. "Anything for a friend," Wigglytuff said with a hearty smile, "so what do you need?" Uxie whispered his plan to Wigglytuff, who smiled at the idea. "Wow! That's a great idea!" Wigglytuff said happily. "Yes, but don't tell your apprentices too much, or it could get complicated," Uxie explained._

_"Don't worry, friend. My lips are sealed," Wigglytuff replied. "Thank you. Goodbye," Uxie said before Wigglytuff was surrounded by a flash of light._

* * *

Carloswas sleeping peacefully until he felt a very uncomfortable sensation on his ear. "Gah!" he yelled as he got up hastily, looking for the source that made him uncomfortable.

The only other pokémon he saw was Darkfang.

"You! Did-Did you just give me a wet willie!?" Carlos yelled at him. The sight of Darkfang laughing on the floor told him everything he needed to know. "You shoulda seen the look on your face! Ha ha!" Darkfang exclaimed gleefully.

"I am seriously getting annoyed with you and Darkfang's 'arguments'," Katty groaned as she and the others got up.

"How often is this gonna happen?" Anubis yawned.

"Knowing the friendship that Carlos and Darkfang share," Dusty told him, "this is probably how we'll wake up every day."

"Oh dear," Vixi whispered in fear of that outcome.

"Come on, let's go before Loudred gets here again," Carlos said.

"Wait, who's Loudred?" Vixi asked.

"He is way louder than what you heard today," Carlos replied, leading his team down the hall.

* * *

When they made it to the main room, they were situated next to Loudred. "Hey, you guys are doing great with waking up. I'm impressed," he told Carlos. "Gee... Thanks," Carlos replied. Soon, Wigglytuff and Chatot came out of their room. After everyone recited the cheers, Wigglytuff stopped them from leaving.

"Friends! I have an announcement to make," he said, which surprised everyone. Even Chatot looked shocked.

"Due to some... Recent events, I decided that we should all do something fun," Wigglytuff stated.

"And what would that be, Guildmaster?" Chatot asked, clearly unaware.

"We're going on an expedition!" Wigglytuff exclaimed.

* * *

**Author's Note: I'm not sure if this is a very good cliffhanger, but I kind of thought that this was an appropriate time to stop. Sorry about the short chapter, though. I'll try to make the next one normal-sized. See you all then!**


	15. Chapter 13: Unexpected Revelations

**Author's Note: OMG, I finally have home internet. I feel so alive! Anyways, you may not know it from the title, but the events that take place in this chapter actually trigger a lot of negative events in the story. How fitting that it's the 13th chapter. By the way, Pokémon Rumble World: lovin' it! Also, I've reached the 15 chapter mark, which means that I'll pose a pokémon-related question at the end of this chapter for you guys to answer in your reviews. By the way, could you all review my fic? Pretty please? I mean, I'm sure that you guys have better things to do, but I would feel like my story's being noticed if the amount of reviews was greater than the amount of chapters. I'd really appreciate it. Enjoy**

* * *

"REALLY!?" Everyone else in the guild except for Team Destiny shouted. Chatot hopped over to Wigglytuff and pulled him aside. "Guildmaster, we never discussed an expedition! What are you doing!?" Chatot asked hastily. "Chatot, please, just go with it," Wigglytuff said in a serious voice. Chatot sighed. He knew that when Wigglytuff used his serious voice, there was no changing his mind. "Fine," he said in defeat.

"Thank you," Wigglytuff told him as he returned to the front of the room, regaining everyone's attention. "Like I was saying, we're going on an expedition shortly, so take today to prepare yourselves."

"What's an expedition?" Carlos asked. "An expedition is when we leave the guild for a few days and venture somewhere far," Bidoof answered.

"That is correct," Chatot said, "but not everyone will be able to go."

"He's right. Someone has to guard the guild while we're gone," Wigglytuff added sadly.

"So, where are we going on this expedition, and when will it take place, Guildmaster?" Chatot asked. Wigglytuff lit up. "That's the best part! We're going back to Fogbound Lake! Tomorrow!" Everyone except for Team Destiny, who looked confused, jumped in joy.

"Hey, what's so special about Fogbound Lake?" Carlos asked Piplup.

"Well, Fogbound Lake is where we met a good friend of ours," Piplup replied. Carlos seemed interested. "Really? What kind of pokémon was he?"

"He was the legendary pokémon Uxie!" Chimchar told Carlos, leaving him and the rest of the team stunned. "Seriously!?" Dusty exclaimed, in which Chimchar nodded in reply.

"That's amazing!" Katty said in awe, with the others nodding in agreement. Even Darkfang looked impressed. "But wait..." Hazel began, "why would the Guildmaster want to go there all of a sudden?" Piplup shrugged. "Maybe he just wants to visit Uxie."

"It does make sense," Chimchar added. Soon Chatot went to the front of the room. "All right, everyone! Time to go out and do your jobs! Oh, and Carlos, please meet me in the Guildmaster's headquarters," he said, going into Wigglytuff's chambers.

"That's odd. Why would Chatot want to see me?" Carlos wondered aloud, "and why just me?"

"I don't know, but we can keep your friends company while you talk with him," Piplup offered. Carlos smiled. "Thanks, guys," he said as he entered Wigglytuff's room.

* * *

When he got in, Chatot was waiting for him.

"Hello, Carlos," Chatot greeted.

"Hi," Carlos greeted back. "So, why did you want to talk to me alone?" Chatot sighed. "I'm glad you asked," Chatot began as he turned around with his eyes closed. "You see, our food storage is running low on perfect apples. Perfect apples are the only things that can pacify the guildmaster." Chatot looked like he was trembling as he said the next part. "If he were to be deprived of his perfect apples... Oh, it would be a... A... A-"

"A disaster of Jurassic proportions?" Carlos offered. Chatot nodded his head quickly. "Exactly! So, to prevent this catastrophe from occurring, I am assigning you and your team to bring back perfect apples from Apple Woods. Here, give me your wonder map," he said. Carlos took it out and unrolled it. Chatot pointed to an area that was a little far from the guild. "That's Apple Woods. Once again, PLEASE do not fail. Bring back five perfect apples," he pleaded.

"Don't worry, Chatot. You can count on me!" Carlos said proudly. Chatot sighed. "Y-You're right. Thank you. You are dismissed." Chatot gestured to the door. Carlos walked over and opened it. As he proceeded to leave, he was stopped by Chatot.

"What? What's the matter?" Carlos asked, confused as to why Chatot pulled him back.

"Well... It's a little silly, but according to proper etiquette, the guildmaster's second-in-command should always open the door," Chatot stated sheepishly.

Carlos groaned. "Seriously?" he complained as he went back into the room and shut the door, letting Chatot reopen the door, finally letting the annoyed Carlos leave.

* * *

"... And that's why I fainted." Piplup and Chimchar had just finished telling another story to the rest of Team Destiny.

After a while, they saw Carlos preparing to leave the room.

"Hey, it looks like he's done!" Hazel said. Suddenly, he turned back and went into the room. "... That was odd," Katty remarked. Then, they saw him go back out, but he looked a bit annoyed.

"Hey, what was that all about, man?" Anubis asked him. Carlos sighed. "Apparently it was 'manners' ."

"So, why did Chatot want to see you?" Hazel asked.

"Oh, he wants us to go run an important errand," Carlos replied. "What kind of errand?" Chimchar asked. "He wants us to go to Apple woods to get five perfect apples."

Piplup and Chimchar grew silent. "Oh," they both said.

Carlos looked baffled. "Um... Is something the matter?" he asked in concern. "We had the same errand once," Piplup said, "but we failed, so the guildmaster lost it and Chatot revoked our dinner that night."

Carlos looked utterly shocked. "No, no, no, I cannot handle a single night without dinner!" He looked at his teammates. "We gotta do this right, okay?" His teammates all nodded.

"So, are we gonna go or what?" Darkfang asked hastily.

"First, there's something we should pick up from the storage," Carlos said as he led his team upstairs and out of the guild.

* * *

When they got to Treasure Town, Carlos went over to Kangaskhan's storage.

"Why, hello, Carlos!" Kangaskhan said in a chipper voice. "What brings you here?"

"Hello, Kangaskhan. I need a TM that I deposited yesterday," Carlos explained. Kangaskhan looked through a marked capsule and pulled out a red disc. "Here you go!" she said, handing Carlos the disc. "Thanks!" he said as he walked back to his team.

He handed the disc to Anubis. "Here. You should have a good fighting move," he said. Anubis nodded as the disc suddenly glowed, transferring its energy to Anubis before it shattered.

"Aww... It broke," Carlos said.

"That's too bad..." Vixi remarked, "but at least Anubis knows a new move."

"Yeah, and rock smash is gonna make fighting a whole lot easier," Anubis said with a cocky grin.

"Right, sure," Carlos remarke d, scratching his neck a bit. That's when he felt it. Or rather, didn't feel it.

His power band wasn't on his neck.

"Wh-What? Where's my power band!?" Carlos asked in a panic, frisking himself to find his power band and earning strange looks from passersby.

Hazel walked up to him and calmed him down. "Carlos, it's okay. Here's your power band," she said as she pulled out Carlos' red power band from... Who knows where? "Sorry I didn't tell you, but I wanted to surprise you with this." Carlos took the power band and looked at it. In the middle of it, there was a golden star. Within it was the letter 'C' in a flashy red color.

Carlos stared at it in awe. "You... You did this just for me?" he asked, bewildered. "Well... Yeah. I mean, you've been a good leader and a great friend, so I wanted to do something nice for you," Hazel told him.

Carlos felt elated. "Wow," he thought. "She did this just for me... That's so nice..." Carlos felt so happy that he wasn't able to stop himself from hugging Hazel. Dusty, Katty and Vixi gushed at the scene, Darkfang pretended to hurl, and Anubis was covering his eyes.

After breaking away from the hug, Carlos and Hazel were blushing furiously, which earned a snicker from Darkfang. "Um... We should probably get going to Apple Woods," Carlos said as he put on his improved power band and led his team to the crossroads, where they departed for Apple Woods.

* * *

As the team got to the dungeon entrance, they looked around. As the name implied, there were a bunch of apple trees.

"Wow, this would be a great place for a picnic," Katty said, admiring the scenery.

"Whatever. Let's just get this errand over with," Darkfang muttered. Everyone, with the exception of Darkfang, trudged in with smiles on their faces, completely unaware of the upcoming events that would occur in the near future.

* * *

**Apple Woods**

**1F** \- On the first floor, Carlos looked down and saw that he was standing right on the stairs.

"... Okay," Carlos said as he led his team down the stairs.

**2F** \- On the second floor, Team Destiny was in the same room as the stairs. "At least we're getting a lucky break..." Darkfang grumbled as he and the others went down the stairs.

**3F** \- On the third floor, the team actually met some action. There were two hoppip that were easily taken out with an ember from Hazel and a rollout from Dusty. Going into the next room, they were able to find the stairs. Before leading his team down the stairs, Carlos picked up a big apple.

**4F** \- There was nothing of note on the fourth floor.

**5F** \- The fifth floor was uneventful, too.

**6F** \- Nothing of interest in the sixth floor, either. Carlos and his team were beginning to get annoyed with the uneventfulness.

**7F** \- On the seventh floor, they immediately encountered a roselia, which shot a poison sting at Dusty, damaging and poisoning him. Carlos gave him a pecha berry, while a completely enraged Katty used tackle on the roselia, knocking it out.

As the team walked into the next room, they saw two budew guarding a stack of money. They both lunged, but were easily taken out by Carlos' tackle and Darkfang's bite. Carlos went over to get the poké, which counted to 300. After that, they wandered a bit more until they found the stairs.

**8F** \- The eighth floor was a walk in the park, considering that there was only one paras to fight, which was easily defeated by Hazel.

**9F** \- The ninth floor was a single room that was packed to the brim with items and no pokémon at all. An excited Carlos quickly went around the room, picking up every item he saw. Soon, he returned back to the team to show the spoils.

"Alright, I got two big apples, a regular apple, three oran berries, four sticks, a gold ribbon, a TM for hone claws, a TM for thunder wave, a TM for drain punch and 328 pokè," Carlos stated.

"Whoa, that's a lot of TMs," Anubis remarked.

"Yeah," Carlos agreed, "we should put them in storage after this." With that said, he led his team downstairs.

**10F** \- On the tenth floor, the team immediately had an encounter with a roselia, which tried to use absorb on Carlos, who dodged and tackled it, followed by a pursuit from Vixi. As the team turned the corridor, they encountered a paras and a hoppip. The paras was easily taken care of with Hazel's ember. The hoppip was defeated with a tackle from Dusty and a rock smash to the face from Anubis.

"I LOVE this move!" Anubis exclaimed. The team headed down the corridor again, where they found the stairs and proceeded.

**11F** \- On the eleventh floor, the stairs were in the same room as Team Destiny. After picking up a max elixir, Carlos led his team down again.

**12F** \- On the twelfth floor, the team was just looking for the stairs until a ledyba nailed Carlos with a comet punch, sending him flying.

"Carlos!" Hazel shouted in worry. When he barely got up, she sighed in relief. Dusty decided to angrily unleash a rollout on the poor ledyba while Carlos used an oran Berry to heal himself. After some more time, the team finally found and went down the stairs.

* * *

As the team finally reached the last floor of the dungeon, they looked around. There were many apple trees that created a narrow path, which soon expanded into a wide open space, with a few apples on the ground.

Katty stared at the entire thing in awe. "Wow... The inside looks even better than the entrance."

Darkfang groaned. "Can we just focus on our objective? Look, there's the perfect apple tree, right there," he said, pointing to a very large apple tree that had the largest apples.

Carlos stared up at the tree. "Well, none of our attacks can reach that high. So, how can we even get those apples?"

"You can't... And you won't," a voice said out of nowhere.

Everyone stared around in confusion.

All, except for Darkfang, who began to tense up. _"Oh, man... She must mean business if she came here,"_ he thought nervously. He began to back away, which everyone noticed.

"Guys, we need to go. Now," he said, backing away even further. Everyone else, except for Carlos and Hazel, began to back away as well.

"Darkfang, what are you talking about?" Carlos asked. Darkfang was about to answer, but electic shackles suddenly shot out of the ground, trapping him, Hazel, Dusty, Katty, Anubis and Vixi.

"Wha-What's going on!?" Vixi said, trying to break free, but the shackles didn't budge.

"Why aren't these coming off!?" Hazel wondered, also trying to loosen their grip.

"Don't bother," the voice said again. "Those shackles are indestructible." Everyone looked up and suddenly saw someone staring at them from atop the trees. The figure then jumped off and landing on the ground gracefully, allowing Team Destiny to get a better look at it. It was a regular colored shinx, but its hind paws were light blue, which meant that the shinx was a female.

She walked over to the shackled heroes. "Well, what do we have here? The paranoid know-it-all, the kindhearted fashionista, the hyperactive goofball, the shy illusionist, and the cruel-hearted TRAITOR!" The shinx screamed at the end, making sure to point at Darkfang.

Then, she walked over to Hazel, who was trembling at this point. "And if it isn't the local coward, the one who can't fight her own battles..." the shinx said. She then smirked as she turned her attention to Carlos. "Ah, and who could forget the leader of the marvelous team? I've been dying to meet you," she said as she began to circle around Carlos, who kept his guard up in case the shinx tried anything.

"Who are you, and why were you waiting for us?" Carlos demanded.

The shinx sighed. "If you must know, then my name is Sharese. As for your other question, I'm here for my business."

Dusty glared. "Oh yeah? What would that be?"

Sharese turned to look at Dusty. "Relax, I don't want to fight any of you." She turned back to Carlos. "I only ask that you come with me, and I'll let all of your friends go. I assure that you will not be harmed."

Carlos got into a battle stance. "Nice try, but I'm not falling for that," he said with a determined glare. Sharese shook her head. "You're a fool to underestimate me. In fact, I'll even let your friend go," she said. Suddenly, the shackles that were holding Hazel dissipated. Hazel got into a battle stance as well.

Sharese snickered. "Too bad I stuck you with the coward." This only made Carlos glare at her even harder, which caused Sharese to actually back away a bit.

"Whoa, why is she suddenly scared?" Katty asked.

"That glare that Carlos gave her must have activated his intimidate ability," Dusty told her. Carlos continued to glare at Sharese. "No one... calls Hazel... a coward," he said angrily. Soon, Sharese shook her head and returned the glare.[

"I didn't want it to come to this... But you leave me no choice!" Sharese shouted as she lunged at Carlos.

**BOSS FIGHT #3: Sharese**

**[_Pokémon Diamond And Pearl: Galactic Commander Battle_ music]**

Carlos was barely able to dodge by jumping left. He then proceeded to tackle Sharese, who crashed into a tree.

She slowly got up and smiled. "Hah... You're not the only one with tricks," she said, charging up electric power. "Shock wave!" She released the energy and fired it at Hazel. Hazel tried to dodge, but the wave consumed her, dealing major damage to her. Sharese then turned to Carlos and flicked her tail, which released star shaped projectiles at Carlos, who had no time to dodge and took the damage.

"This isn't good. Carlos and Hazel are losing," Dusty said.

"She prepared for this fight," Darkfang said bluntly. Dusty, Katty, Anubis and Vixi turned to look at him.

"What do you mean, Darkfang?" Vixi asked.

Darkfang sighed. "She knew we were coming here and prepared for this fight. These electric shackles came from a move called eerie impulse, where she discharged energy from the ground, manipulating their structure into chains and shackles to secure us. She learned shock wave because it never misses. She also learned swift because she knew that Carlos was resistant to electric type moves."

Everyone except for Carlos and Hazel stared at him. "... Wow. That was a pretty good theory," Dusty said, impressed.

Darkfang looked back at the battle, where Carlos was just blown back by another swift. "Sharese appears powerful, but she always has at least one flaw." Everyone wondered how Darkfang knew so much about Sharese, but they shrugged it off to watch the battle taking place before them.

Carlos had just gotten hit by another swift as he painfully collided with the perfect apple tree and landing painfully on the ground. Sharese walked over to him.

"Hey! Leave him alone!" Hazel said, attempting to burn her with an ember. However, Sharese merely blasted Hazel with a shock wave, knocking her back.

Vixi watched it all unfold with horror. _"Carlos... please be okay."_

Carlos, however, was very near fainting.

"Well, one more Attack should do the job," Sharese said, charging up electricity to fire at Carlos.

"NOOOOO!" Vixi shrieked as her eyes shone red for a second. All of a sudden, a bright light flashed in the room, causing Sharese to cover her eyes.

When she opened her eyes, she was in a meadow.

"Wha-? How... How did I get here?" Sharese wondered. She began to walk around until she bumped into something. "Ow! What the-" However, when she looked forward, there was nothing. She tried walking, but once again, she was pushed by an invisible force.

"Why you little-!"

Back in reality, Carlos and his team were laughing hysterically at the sight of Sharese violently swatting thin air. Except for Vixi, who was focusing on keeping the illusion up.

After he finished laughing, Carlos ran over to the rest of his team. "Guys, what are we gonna do? The illusion's gonna wear off soon and Hazel's knocked out." Vixi finally let go of the illusion and turned to face Carlos. "Carlos, the illusion should be up for a few more seconds. Since Sharese is disoriented, the shackles broke. All of you, take care of Hazel," she said.

"What about you?" Anubis asked, genuinely serious. "I'll fight Sharese," she stated determinedly.

"Vixi, are you sure about this?" Katty asked worriedly. Right at that moment, Sharese's illusion wore off.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go!" Vixi shouted as the others rushed over to Hazel's side. Carlos pulled out a reviver seed and gave it to Hazel, reviving her.

Sharese had seen what happened and was fuming. She glared at the little zorua. "I don't care if you're a kid, you're going to pay," she said, attempting to punch Vixi, who easily dodged and dealt scratch after scratch, eventually diminishing Sharese's health to one.

"This is for messing with my friends!" Vixi yelled as she charged at the wobbly Shinx and punched her with a powerful pursuit, knocking her out.

The rest of the team members saw the whole thing and went over to congratulate Vixi, who returned to being shy at this point.

All of a sudden, Sharese got up with a groan. Everyone took a battle stance, but she merely smiled. "Well, that was definitely a tough battle. Now, I believe you needed these," she said, hitting the tree hard enough so that five perfect apples dropped down. She picked them up and handed them to Carlos, along with a pink zinc band and 100 poké. "These are for your trouble. Until next time," she said, disappearing in a flash of light.

"Well, that was a good job," Carlos said, raising his badge, which teleported everyone back to the guild.

Soon after they left, Sharese emerged from behind one of the trees and smirked.

_"__Fools,"_ she thought deviously to herself.

* * *

"Wow! Vixi was able to beat her all by herself!?"

The guild was having dinner, and Team Destiny was telling everyone about Vixi's bravery, to which they responded to by clapping for he, causing her to look away in shyness.

Chatot and Wigglytuff, however, looked guilty.

That was when Chatot tried to get everyone's attention. "Ahem!" Everyone remained quiet to listen to Chatot.

"So, after some talking" Chatot began, looking depressed, "the Guildmaster and I have decided who will be staying. It was not easy, but just know that we're trying to be moral. Unfortunately, Anubis and Vixi also cannot go due to their young age." This earned depressed and defeated expressions from the two young pokémon.

"So, Chatot. Who's going to stay here?" Carlos asked, nervous that it would be another one of his teammates.

Chatot sighed and took a deep breath before uttering the three words that almost shattered his heart:

"You are, Carlos."

* * *

**Author's Note: I apologize for the month-long wait, everyone. So I gave you all an extra long chapter. From now on, I'll try to update every 1-2 weeks, if possible. By the way, this may sound a little demanding, but can we try to reach 15 total reviews for this fic? Your comments are what really encourage me. In fact, I'll review as well, since it's time for that question that I talked about. Here it is:**

**If you could choose three pokémon to give a mega evolution to, which ones would you pick and why? Also, if you could come up with some new kind of evolution, like primal reversion or fusion or something, what would it be?**

**That's all. See you guys and gals in a week or something!**


	16. Chapter 14: Departure

**Author's Note: Welcome back, everyone! See, I followed my update schedule and I posted on time. Yay! Anyway, I appreciate the reviewers that answered to my plea last chapter. So, this chapter might be a bit uneventful, but it'll help you understand some history on the pokémon world. Enjoy! Oh, and I forgot: I don't own Drenched Bluff, Apple Woods or Craggy Coast.**

* * *

At this point, the guild apprentices were looking at Carlos with sympathetic expressions, and Chatot and Wigglytuff were looking down sadly.

Carlos, on the other hand, just sat there with his eyes void of any emotion.

"Oh, no..." Katty said sadly.

"This can't be happening," Hazel said, just as depressed. She looked at Carlos again, his face still showing no emotion. "Carlos, I'm so sorry."

Carlos looked at Hazel and smiled. "Don't be sorry, Hazel. I mean, someone had to stay," he said as a single tear escaped from his left eye. "I can just watch over Vixi and Anubis..." Another tear fell. "... And you guys can go have fun on the expedition..." Another stray tear. "... Without me." Three more tears. Even his voice was beginning to crack.

"Carlos, what's wrong?" Dusty asked in concern. Carlos quickly wiped away his tears. "N-Nothing, I'm fine. I... I'm going to my room," he said, pushing away his dinner and running out of the mess hall.

"I'll check on him," Anubis said, going after him.

* * *

When Anubis got to Team Destiny's room, he saw Carlos laying down on his haunches. He wasn't crying anymore, though. He just looked depressed.

"Carlos, are you feeling a little better?" Anubis asked sincerely. Carlos gave him a small smile. "Yeah, it's just... I was really looking forward to going on this expedition with my whole team, and now you, me and Vixi aren't going."

"Well, I know it feels bad, but think about this: if you feel bad about not being able to go, rather than be happy that your friends - and Darkfang - get to go, they'll be sad, too" Anubis explained.

"You know what? You're right," Carlos said. "But I still feel bad that you and Vixi can't go." Then he remembered something. "Hey, speaking of Vixi, what happened to her back in Apple Woods?"

Anubis looked nervous all of a sudden. "Oh! U-Um... I-It's nothing, just-just-"

"It was an illusion." Carlos and Anubis turned around and saw Vixi standing at the doorway. "It's my ability."

"But why did it occur right before Sharese attacked me?" Carlos asked her.

Vixi sighed. "It can be used anytime by other zorua, but for me, it only works in dire situations. When I saw you about to get knocked out, I was able to cast an illusion."

_"Huh. Sounds just like that transformation I had when I fought Darkfang,"_ Carlos thought. His thoughts were interrupted when the rest of his team entered the room, each of them looking at him in worry - even Darkfang looked slightly concerned.

"Are you still sad, Carlos?" Dusty asked.

Carlos let out a more confident smile. "Nah, I'm okay. I'm really happy for you guys." Hazel smiled. "Well, I'm glad that you're feeling better."

"Yeah, but we should get some sleep. You guys need the rest for your big day tomorrow," Carlos said as he fixed up his bed.

As the others got into bed, Darkfang went over to Carlos. "Just between you and me, Wigglytuff and Chatot are idiots for not taking you," he whispered before going back to his own bed.

Carlos smiled. _"You know, I don't care about the expedition anymore. It's just nice to know that my team's always there for me."_ Suddenly, Darkfang went back over to Carlos. "If you ever tell anyone that I said that, I will jack you up," he whispered, returning to his bed and promptly falling asleep.

Carlos sweatdropped. _"Well, at least he cares."_

* * *

Darkburn and Evan were just sitting around in a secluded area, when Sharese came stomping in angrily.

Darkburn snickered. "Looks like you got him," he said sarcastically.

Sharese told him and Evan about everything that happened, from encountering Team Destiny to letting them off the hook.

Darkburn laughed the whole time. "Wow, hilarious!" he howled. Sharese glared at him. "At least I didn't get beat up by three teenagers!" she yelled at him.

Darkburn gave her a smug look. "Of course not. You got beat up by TWO teenagers and a little kid." That earned a shock wave from the agitated shinx.

All of a sudden, Sharese grew a malevolent smile. "Of course. That's it. By the time I'm done with my next scheme, that 'hero' will be a nothing," she said, walking to her personal quarters.

"Well, while she's wasting her mind, how about you and me mess with Team Destiny? I happen to know that they're going on an expedition," Darkburn told Evan. However, Evan was busy looking at a photo of him and a shiny zoroark. Darkburn went over to look at the photo and groaned. "Dude... Is this about Zoraya again?"

Evan nodded. "I just can't believe that she was taken hostage."

"Well, remember what the boss said: the sooner we kill Carlos, the sooner you get to see your beloved," Darkburn said, holding out his paw. "So are you in?" Evan shook his head. "Sorry, but I just need some time to clear my head, but maybe later." Darkburn shrugged as he went out the exit. "Suit yourself."

* * *

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" Loudred screamed as he left, leaving everyone in the room dazed.

Darkfang growled at the sound of Loudred's wake up call. "What... A... Moron," he grumbled. Carlos got up, followed by the rest of the team. "Well," Carlos said, yawning, "you guys should get going. You don't want to miss your first expedition."

In a mere ten minutes, everyone was packed and ready to go to the expedition.

"All right, here are the groups for the expedition," Chatot said. "The first group is Loudred, Sunflora, Corphish and Chimecho."

"All right! You guys better not hold me back!" Loudred shouted.

"You do that to yourself!" Sunflora and Chimecho shot back.

"Hey, hey! Stop fighting!" Corphish yelled.

"... Okay. The second group will be Croagunk, Diglett and Dugtrio."

"Yay! Father and I are together!" Diglett rejoiced.

"The third group will be me, the guildmaster and Bidoof," Chatot announced.

"Oh, boy, I'm in the same group as the guildmaster, yup yup," Bidoof said.

"That means that the final group is Hazel, Katty, Dusty, Piplup, Chimchar, and Darkfang."

"All right, we get to travel with Team Poképals!" Hazel exclaimed in joy.

"All right, since you're all ready, let's go," Chatot said. One by one, each of the pokémon climbed the ladder until Wigglytuff was the only one left. He turned around to face Carlos. "I'm really sorry that you had to stay here, so I got you something, friend!" He said, pulling out a perfect apple and giving it to Carlos. As Wigglytuff climbed the ladder, he looked back at the last second. "Oh, and you can use all the books in my room!" He shouted before leaving.

Carlos, Anubis and Vixi ran over to the grate to say their goodbyes.

"Bye, have fun!" Carlos shouted.

"See you guys later!" Anubis added.

"We'll miss you," Vixi continued, although it was barely audible to the guild members.

As they were heard leaving, the other three just stood there, unsure of what to do. Suddenly, Carlos felt a stinging sensation in his head as he dropped the apple. Then, his vision became white for a split second.

* * *

_"I don't think we should bring Carlos on this expedition," Wigglytuff said with concern on his face._

_"Guildmaster, you're being paranoid!" Chatot told him. "There are plenty of shiny pokémon in the world."_

_"I'm just trying to look out for Carlos," Wigglytuff said. "He just can't go."_

_"But-" Chatot tried to interject. "No buts, Chatot. He is staying here and that's final!" Wigglytuff shouted, making Chatot flinch._

_Eventually, he sighed in defeat. "Fine."_

* * *

"Carlos, are you okay?" Carlos snapped out of his vision and saw Anubis and Vixi helping him off the ground. "You just blacked out for a sec," Anubis told him. "Don't worry guys, I'm fine," Carlos said. _"So that's why I wasn't chosen. But why would Wigglytuff think I'm special?" _Carlos suddenly realized that he, Anubis and Vixi were just standing there in silence.

"... You guys wanna read?" Carlos asked, hoping to break the silence. Anubis and Vixi both nodded as they all went to Wigglytuff's room.

* * *

Wigglytuff was right. Next to his chair was a bookshelf filled with different kinds of books.

The three pokémon immediately began to stream through the different books until they each had books... Well, Carlos had two. "All right, let's go to our room," Carlos said as the three went to their room.

"So, what books did you guys pick?" Carlos asked as he and the two pre-teens settled into their beds. "Here are the ones that I picked," he said, putting down two books. The first one was very short and had a picture of pokémon battling each other labeled _Battle Combos. _The other book had no pictures, but it had _Pokémon History _written in a fancy, golden font. It was significantly larger than the other books.

"I dunno, I just picked the least boring book I could find," Anubis said, showing Carlos the book.

Carlos read the title. "_'My Little Ponyta'_? Sounds a little weird."

**(PS77: From now on, I'll pop in a small note every now and then to clarify stuff. Just so you all know, I have nothing against Bronies... or Bronytas.)**

Anubis took the book back and had a prideful smile. "Say what you want, but I am a proud Bronyta," he said.

"O-Kay..." Carlos said, visibly creeped out. "So, what book did you pick, Vixi?"

"Um... This one," she said, showing him the cover of the book, which read _Nidoran and Juliet. "Whoa! I didn't know Vixi was such an advanced reader," _Carlos thought. "Wow, that's a pretty high-level book. Have fun," he said as they all began to read. _"Hmm,"_ Carlos thought, _"I wonder what Hazel and the others are doing."_

* * *

"All right, we're here," Piplup said. He, Chimchar and the rest of Team Destiny had just arrived at a cave-like area.

"Whoa, what is this place?" Katty asked, looking inside.

"It's called Craggy Coast," Chimchar told her. Hazel suddenly noticed a statue that strongly resembled Kangaskhan. "What's this?" she asked.

"Oh, that's a Kangaskhan Rock," Chimchar replied. "You can use it to store and take items that you have in storage." Unfortunately, Team Destiny didn't have any items in storage.

"Well, we've got five oran berries, so I guess we're all set," Piplup said, checking his treasure bag. As they walked into Craggy Coast, Katty noticed a side path. "Hey, what dungeon's in that side path?" she asked. "Side Path," Piplup replied as they all entered the dungeon.

* * *

**Craggy Coast**

**B1F** \- On the first basement floor, the five pokémon walked through a passage, where they encountered a spheal that was taken out with a rollout from Dusty. In the next room, they found the stairs and went down.

**B2F** \- On the second basement floor, they were bombarded by two wingull that both dealt hard blows to Katty and Hazel. Katty countered with a tackle and Hazel used confuse ray on the other. Piplup and Chimchar finished them off with a pound and scratch. Going to the next room, they encountered a dratini that attempted to quick attack Chimchar. He jumped out of the way and did a flame wheel to knock it out. After looking around the room, they spotted the stairs.

**B3F** \- On the third basement floor, the stairs were a little behind them.

**B4F** \- On the fourth basement floor, they encountered another dratini that landed a direct hit on Darkfang, causing him to bite it fiercely. As they proceeded, they came into an empty room. Hazel and Katty were a little low on health, so they were tired at this point. As Dusty began to walk forward, the floor beneath him materialized into stairs.

"Gah!" Dusty shrieked, jumping back. "WHAT WAS THAT!?"

"Wow, you discovered a hidden bazaar!" Chimchar exclaimed in joy. He and Piplup led Team Destiny down the stairs.

**Hidden Bazaar** \- When they emerged, they were in a sort of bazaar. A kirlia walked up to them. "Welcome to the hidden bazaar! Here, you can buy grab bags, escape dungeons or even get healed," she said.

"Well, I think we should get healed. I'm so tired," Hazel said exhaustedly. After they all got healed, the five proceeded down the stairs.

**B6F** \- On the sixth basement floor, the stairs were next to a sleeping sealeo, which was woken up and defeated by a quick attack from Hazel and a tackle from Katty.

**B7F** \- On the seventh basement floor, they walked down two halls, successfully making it to the stairs while avoiding other pokémon.

**(PS77: For anyone who's wondering why there are no items, Team Destiny can't collect them since Carlos has the treasure bag, so I decided to cut them out for now.)**

**B8F** \- On the eighth basement floor, Dusty was attacked by a gastrodon, to which he responded to with a hard tackle, sending it backwards a bit. The gastrodon tried a mud bomb, but Dusty blocked it with a defense curl. Katty then used tackle, which knocked out the gastrodon.

"Hey, there's the stairs!" Hazel said, pointing a bit further ahead as they all went down.

**B9F** \- On the ninth basement floor, the group was easily able to get to the stairs after a quick encounter with a krabby.

* * *

As the team reached the end of the stairs, a cliffside came into view. As they looked around, they saw a wide walkway that led to another area.

However, a smiling Darkburn was standing in their way.

"You," Darkfang growled in a low voice.

"Looks like you finally showed up, traitor," Darkburn told him.

"Hah! You're one to talk about traitorism," Darkfang replied. That only made Darkburn's smirk grow. "Well, if that's how you feel, then how about this: you and two other losers against me."

"You're on! And I pick Dusty and Chimchar," Darkfang said. Dusty and Chimchar went over to him while the others took a step back.

"Okay, here's the plan: when I say go, you guys... " he whispered the rest of his plan to them as they nodded.

"All right, let's do this!" Darkfang said as he, Dusty, Chimchar got into stances.

**BOSS FIGHT #4: Darkburn (2nd)**

**[_Pokémon RSE: Team Aqua/Magma Battle_ music]**

Darkburn smirked. "Oh, I'm not the same Darkburn I was on Mt. Coral. I got way better," he said as he blasted a cloud of purple smoke at Dusty, who rolled out of the way.

"Yeah, but you're still weak!" Darkfang shouted, tackling his former partner and sending him back.

"Take THIS!" Darkburn fired a quick ember at Darkfang, hitting and burning him. Darkfang tried to land a bite, but it didn't seem to hurt Darkburn, as he laughed and shoved Darkfang away.

_"Dang, I forgot,"_ Darkfang thought, _"a burn means halved attack."_ Darkfang was having a slightly hard time standing at this point. Then, an idea struck him. It was time for his backup plan.

"Dusty, Chimchar, do it!" he shouted over to them. Chimchar looked at Dusty. "Are you ready?" he asked. Dusty nodded. "Let's do it."

Almost instantly, Chimchar perched onto Dusty, who began to run at full speed towards Darkburn. Then, at the same time, Chimchar and Dusty used flame wheel and rollout at the same time, resulting in a glowing ball of fire.

"What the-" Darkburn was unable to finish as he was sent hurdling off the cliffside by the move.

The others ran over to them. "Guys, what was that!? It was amazing!" Piplup exclaimed.

"It's a combo move we invented. We call it 'Lava Rock'," Dusty told him. Darkfang sighed. "Well, that moron is gone, so I'm gonna go to sleep," Darkfang said, laying down on the ground. Hazel looked at the sun, which was already setting. "Wow, it IS late. Let's all go to sleep," she said. Everyone agreed as they laid down and, one by one, fell asleep.

Before Hazel fell asleep, she wondered: _"I wonder what Carlos and the others are doing."_

* * *

Back at the guild, Carlos had already finished the battle combo book and was really getting into the contents of his history book, where he got up to an excerpt on the pokémon world's many kingdoms:

_The pokemon world used to be one big kingdom, where its many different citizens all lived in unity and harmony. They were all governed by Arceus, the nicest ruler there ever was. One day, Arceus announced that he must pass away his duty of governing to someone else, so he chose his four best disciples: Moralius, the valiant flareon. Alfolius, the headstrong beedrill. Corsha, the kindhearted froslass. And Kanelibashka, the antisocial but devoted sceptile._

_However, as noble as they were, they all sought to rule the pokémon world to its entirety. So, they had constant battles. The war lasted for about 100 years. Much blood was spread, many lives were lost, many tears were shed. Eventually, they realized their error and called a truce. They decided to create four kingdoms for each of them to govern equally._

_Moralius had chosen his portion of the kingdom to be the west part, which was a desert area to which he gave the name 'Wesali'. After his death, there was a never-ending string of great rulers. However, one trait that they agree that they all share is that they are quick to judge._

_Alfolius had decided on choosing the south portion, as it consisted of luscious springs and forests. He gave it the name 'Soutaine'. Although he was headstrong, everyone in Soutaine lived in complete peacefulness._

_Corsha, being an ice type, decided that it would be best to go with the northern portion, which was on a tall mountain that had frigid climates. She gave it the name 'Norlou'. Corsha may have been a kindhearted leader, but the rest of the emperors after her decided on ruling with brute force. They wanted the kingdom all to themselves, as they have constantly planned to invade the other kingdoms. To this day, they have been unsuccessful._

_Kanelibashka was stuck with the eastern portion, which was initially a bunch of ruins. However, that didn't stop anyone from helping him curate most of it into a regal, ancient capital. Kanelibashka was happy with the work and named the kingdom 'Easlic' in order to represent its modernization of an ancient city. As time passed, Kamelibashka came to appreciate the virtues of friendship. To this day, Easlic has been ruled by the noblest and kindest leaders._

Carlos finished reading and put the book down. "Wow, that was pretty informative." He looked at the now-sleeping Anubis and Vixi. _"Aww, that's cute. Well, I guess I'd better sleep, too. The sun's already down,"_ Carlos thought a s he put the books aside and drifted to sleep.

* * *

Outside of the guild, there was a pokémon looking at it. The pokemon had a feline body structure with gray fur and white paws. The tips of its ears were also white. It's ears and eyelids were pink, it's eyes were yellow with blue irises, it had a white muzzle and a small, black nose. It's most distinguishable feature was its spring-like tail that had a gray, poofy tip.

"Well," the glameow said with a female voice and a sly smile, "looks like the Wigglytuff Guild is my next target."

* * *

**Author's Note: So, now you guys know some history, and I'm sure it was fun for you... I hope. Anyway, see you all later!**


	17. Chapter 15: The Cat Burglar

**Author's Note: Wow, it hasn't been that long since I last updated, has it? Anyway, now that I've got all the character introduction out of the way, this story is going to get a LOT more interesting. By the way, for anyone whose waiting for another part of my Legend of Spyro fanfic, I'm putting it on hold until July. Sorry, but it won't even take that long to finish. It's like a mini story. Also, this chapter has minimal gore in the middle. Anyway, with all that aside, enjoy this story!**

* * *

The glameow looked at the grate. _"Hmm, this looks like a good way in,"_ she thought as she carefully pried the grate off without much noise. She then slid down and landed gracefully.

The glameow then proceeded through the tunnel, heading towards the light source. When she got there, she was in the guild's main room.

When she looked around, she saw the door to the guildmaster's room. She smiled. _"Jackpot."_ She then looked around to make sure nobody was there and entered the room, where she began to rummage through everything, putting all the valuables in a brown potato sack. She sighed as a single tear escaped her eye. _"How did I ever sink this low?"_ she wondered miserably.

* * *

Back at a secret hideaway, Diancie was meditating with Meloetta.

All of a sudden, Victini came into a room with a smile on his face. "Diancie, your plan worked! Wigglytuff took all but three of his apprentices on the expedition to meet Uxie!" Diancie sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I have faith that Uxie can properly inform Carlos of his destiny and the evil that has constantly gone after hom."

Victini' face grew so pale at hearing what Diancie just had that he could be mistaken from a shiny. "Um... Pardon me, but, thi-this whole plan was to warn Carlos?" he said, beginning to sweat.

Diancie looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, why do you ask?"

Victini took a deep breath. "Well... about those pokémon that had to stay behind at the guild..."

Diancie now had a serious look. "Victini... what is going on? Why are you acting all scared?"

"Carlos was the one who didn't go on the expedition!" Victini blurted, bracing himself for Diancie's outburst. However, she retained her posture and closed her eyes. "Is that so?" she asked calmly. "Well, that's a shame. If you'll excuse me, I need to go to my quarters." She then went to her room and shut the door.

Meloetta got up and walked next to Victini. "Hm. She took that better than I thought she would," she said. Victini nodded. "Yeah. I mean, Diancie is an amazing leader and all, but she never struck me as someone to keep their temper in check. Guess I was wrong."

All of a sudden, an explosion was heard from Diancie's room, catching the other two legendaries off guard. Jirachi, Mew, Celebi, Manaphy and Phione entered the area in a panic.

"What's making all that noise? It woke up Phione," Manaphy complained, who was holding her little brother in her arms.

Celebi looked at the door to Diancie's room, which looked slightly burned. "Uh-oh... Diancie must be having one of her 'moments'," she said. Suddenly, the door flew open, revealing a fuming Diancie.

"WHERE IS CARLOS!?" Diancie growled in a deep voice.

Victini began to tense up. "Uh... at t-the Wigglytuff G-Guild, but w-why do you-"

"WE NEED TO HAVE A TALK!" she screamed, opening a portal.

"Sweetie, maybe you should calm down a bit," Meloetta said in a motherly tone.

**"****I AM CALM!"** Diancie screamed at the top of her lungs as she flew into the portal at a high speed.

Everyone just stared at the spot where the enraged Diancie stood a minute ago. They have seen her lose her cool, but they have never witnessed her getting as furious as she did just a moment ago.

"So," Jirachi said awkwardly, "who wants leftover pizza?"

**(PS77: In this story, non-meat foods like pizza and sandwiches exist, so don't hate!)**

* * *

_Carlos woke up tiredly, not wanting to open his eyes. He was sure that it was at least midnight. He just hoped that he could fall back asleep._

_"__Ahem," a familiar voice said. Carlos decided to open his eyes and see who it was and smiled when he saw Diancie floating in front of him. She, however, had a slightly distressed look._

_"__Hey, Diancie! Is everything alright?" Carlos asked, concerned. Diancie, who was shaking at this point, slowly shook her head. "Actually, no. You know that expedition you didn't go on?" Diancie asked, slowly floating towards Carlos._

_"__Um... yeah, what about it?" Carlos asked, backing away slightly. Diancie then zipped forward and grabbed Carlos by the scruff of his neck. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO GO!" Diancie yelled, making Carlos wince._

_Diancie sighed. "Sorry about that. I have a small anger problem that usually makes me go crazy, and I try to control my temper."_

_"__It's okay," Carlos said. "So what do I do now? I mean, I have to take care of Anubis and Vixi."_

_Diancie nodded, still holding Carlos by the neck. "I understand that, which is why you need to find a way to catch up with your friends so you can talk to Uxie about your past, like I planned. And if you don't..." Diancie grew a wicked smile as she lifted Carlos off the ground, "I will join the evil side and personally make sure that you are the first pokémon that I enslave," she finished, hovering down and letting go of the terrified shinx._

_Diancie, realizing what she just did, smiled and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Sorry."_

_Carlos, who was still trying to get rid of the terror, simply nodded shakily._

_Diancie prepared a portal to leave when Carlos walked over to her. "Diancie... Thank you," he said._

_Diancie smiled at him. "No problem, Carlos," she said, approaching the portal. "Oh, and by the way, you're being robbed."_

_"__WHAT!?" Carlos shouted as he was blinded by a white light._

* * *

"Gah!"Carlos woke up with a start. When he looked around, he saw Anubis and Vixi asleep, cuddled together..

_"__Aw, they would make a cute couple... Oh, wait! ARE we being robbed?"_ Carlos thought as he slowly made his way to the main room. He looked to his right and saw that the door to the guildmaster's room was slightly open, and noise could be heard from the inside.

Carlos glared lightly. _"Whoa, Diancie wasn't kidding. This could get pretty rough, and I hope it doesn't wake the kids up. The last thing I need is to put them in harm's way. Man, am I tired."_ With that in mind, Carlos slowly approached the room.

The glameow, whose sack was almost full, was looking around for something. "Come on! Don't these people have a gold storage or something? Or even some kind of energy bars?" she grumbled.

Carlos took this time to jump in sight, causing the glameow to look at him. "Believe me, you'll have all the bars you want where you're going!" he said. The glameow then smirked.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Looks like the guild wasn't deserted after all," she said, walking towards Carlos. "What's your name, little boy?"

Carlos merely glared at her. "Okay, a) I am NOT little, and b) I don't give my name to crooks like you!"

"Ah, I see. Your a safe pokémon. Well, how about you tell me your name when I tell you mine? It's Ruby," the glameow known as Ruby said, getting even closer to Carlos. "... Fine, my name's Carlos," Carlos told Runy, making her smile. "See, that wasn't so hard, now was it?" Ruby kept walking until she was only a foot away from Carlos.

"Well, manners or not, you're still going to jail," Carlos said before yawning. That gave Ruby an idea as she used her paw to lift up Carlos' chin so she could see him eye-to-eye.

"Oh, I don't think you want to arrest me. In fact... why don't you go to sleep?" Ruby said softly as a red glow emanated from her eyes and reached Carlos, making him even more drowsy as his legs began to wobble from tiredness. "That's right..." Ruby said with a sly smile, "let all of your stress just melt away..."

Carlos was struggling to stay awake. He couldn't leave Anubis and Vixi in the hands of a burglar. "N-No... gotta... stay... awake..." Carlos struggled to say. Ruby merely chuckled. "Well, you're a persistent one. Guess I have to power up my hypnosis even more," she said as she concentrated more power into the attack.

Carlos wasn't able to handle it as he collapsed, but was caught in Ruby's paws before he hit the ground. She then picked up the sleeping shinx and placed him on Wigglytuff's chair. She then put a blanket on him. "Forgive me, Carlos. But this is just how my life is," Ruby told him, even though he couldn't hear her.

**(PS77: In this fanfic, the move Hypnosis has two uses: to induce sleep, or to hypnotize. In this case, it induced sleep.)**

All of a sudden, Ruby felt a brief, but powerful sting in her head as she fell to the ground.

Anubis held his head up high as Vixi emerged from the doorway. "Good job, Anubis," she told the riolu. Anubis smiled. "Thanks. Who knew that rock smash would have so many uses?" Vixi nodded. "Pursuit is working well for me, too." she and Anubis shared a high-five. They looked at Carlos, then at Ruby. "Let's tie her up," Anubis said.

* * *

Carlos woke up a few minutes later, feeling completely refreshed. Anubis turned around and ran over to him. "Hey, are you alright? Vixi and I were eavesdropping and we saw that pokémon do somethin to you."

Carlos got up. "Yeah, she only used hypnosis on me. Her name's Ruby, by the way. Where is she?" he asked.

"We knocked her out and tied her up right there," Anubis said, motioning over to Ruby, who was currently tied up and being watched by Vixi.

Vixi looked back and saw that Carlos had woken up. "Hi, Carlos," she said cheerfully.

Carlos looked at a clock, which read 11:30. "Well, we should probably get some sleep. We'll turn this crook in tomorrow." As they were leaving, Ruby spoke. "If you think I WANT to do this, then you don't know anything."

Carlos, Anubis and Vixi stopped and turned around to face her. "What are you talking about?" Carlos asked.

Ruby sighed. "I didn't want to be a criminal, I was forced to."

At this point, Carlos went over to her. "Really? What happened?" he asked her.

Ruby closed her eyes. "Well, here's what happened..."

* * *

_FLASHBACK (Ruby's POV)_

_For starters, I never started as a criminal. A few weeks ago, I was the owner of a daycare in Easlic._

_I was respected and trusted by everyone there, and the kids loved me. I had even heard some mothers wish that they were me. I was smart, caring, and beautiful looking for a 19 year-old. I even had a slightly younger teenager who idolized me. She would usually visit the daycare to help me handle all the little tykes. Her name was Sally, and she was a sneasel. Anyway, I'm getting a bit off topic. All was fine with my life... Until that fateful day that ruined my life._

_I was left in charge of a young chespin. His parents left me his ID and medical records. As usual, I looked through to see if there were any allergies, but what I saw first scared me. The kid had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease for, like, six months._

**(PS77: I don't mean to touch any nerves by mentioning this disease, and I'm sorry if I did. It's just part of the story.)**

_I wanted to make sure that he had a nice, healthy lunch, so I went to my kitchen to make him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. So I got a loaf of bread out and took two slices. Then, I got some red jelly. I began to apply the jelly to the bread with a knife._

_I was about halfway done when I heard the most agonizing scream. I instantly recognized it as the chespin's, so I quickly ran back to the main room, but he wasn't there._

_All of a sudden, I heard some kind of commotion from outside. When I got there, I saw the most horrifying thing._

_The chespin was lying on his back, covered in blood. There was a big hole in his chest where his heart should've been. There was blood oozing from the hole and his mouth, which was gaping open._

_At first, everyone was looking at the chespin with sadness in their eyes, some of them starting to cry. Then, slowly but surely, I noticed that some people had taken their attention off of him and begun to look at me. Some people were pointing at me in horror, and others began to back away in fear. A few people even glared at me with pure hatred in their eyes. I didn't understand why all these people were suddenly so fearful of me. That's when it hit me._

_I looked at my right paw, which was clutching a knife stained with blood-red jelly._

_Of course, everyone else assumed it was blood._

_"__Murderer!" a villager shouted. "That woman is a murderer!" I tried to argue that the child had Alzheimer's, but they were all convinced that I killed him. All through the while, I kept hearing people shouting punishments for my 'crime'._

_"__Sentence her to death!"_

_"__Exile her from Easlic!"_

_"__Behead her for her crimes!"_

_"__Throw bukkits at her!"_

_Everyone turned to look at the pokémon who had made the last threat, which was a zoroark. "Sorry."_

**(PS77: Kudos to anyone who gets this reference.)**

_Then, the queen emerged. The queen was an elegant glaceon who wore purple robes. She usually appeared whenever conflict occurred. "What is going on here!?" she boomed. A jolteon motioned over to the dead chespin. When she saw him and me, she glared. "YOU! How dare you murder an innocent child?"_

_Suddenly, out of nowhere, Sally jumped in front of me. "Now, hold on! Ruby has a childcare degree. Do you all really think she would do this? I've worked with her for a long time, and she is the most kindhearted pokémon in the world! Besides, why would she even want to kill a toddler? Don't you all trust her?"_

_"__That was our first mistake," the queen said. Four armed graveler stood by her. "SEIZE THEM!" she commanded. As all of the graveler ran towards me, I closed my eyes, waiting for my demise. However, when I opened them, I saw Sally launching icy winds at them._

_When they were all frozen momentarily, she took a moment to look at me. "Ruby, run! And don't stop!"_

_I shook my head. I had lost my job and reputation in one day. I wasn't about to lose my best friend. "Sally, I can't just-"_

_The ice was beginning to crack. "NOW!" Sally shouted at me. I had no choice. I ran in the opposite direction, since the villagers had fled at that point._

_When I was far enough, I looked back to see Sally, who had been captured and was being confronted by the queen. I began to cry as I ran away from everything: my job, my home, my family... and my best friend._

* * *

"... and that's what happened. Eventually, I had to resort to thievery to survive," Ruby said tragically, as retelling the story had driven her to tears.

Carlos, Anubis and Vixi felt sorry for her. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that," Carlos said sincerely as he untied Ruby, allowing her to stretch.

"Do you understand now? Not all outlaws are bad," Ruby told him.

"Yeah..." Carlos agreed. He didn't think she deserved to go to prison. Suddenly, he remembered somethin important. "Ruby, can we make a deal?"

Ruby wiped away her tears. "What kind of deal?"

"Well, me and these two need to get to Fogbound lake by tomorrow night to see Uxie. Can you take us there if we don't turn you in?" 9i asked, shocking his other teammates.

Ruby looked at him, just as shocked. "You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah. That wasn't your fault, so you shouldn't be arrested," he replied. Ruby then ran and caught him in a bear hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you SO much!" she exclaimed gleefully before letting go of him.

"Hold on," Anubis interjected. "Carlos, do you even know where Uxie is?" Carlos tried to remember. He never really paid attention to any speeches. "Do YOU know, Ruby?" Carlos asked hopefully.

"Well... I don't know where Uxie is, but I know where Mesprit is. Maybe she could take us to Uxie?" Ruby suggested. Carlos decided that it was better than nothing. "Deal," he said as he and Ruby shook paws.

"All right. I don't want anyone to see me, so we can only travel at night," Ruby told them. "Now, it's 12:16, so pack what you need to, and we'll leave in forty minutes."

Carlos was about to go get his treasure bag, but he stopped and turned around. "Um... Ruby, can I ask you a question?"

Ruby smiled at him. "Anything. What is it?"

Carlos scratched the back of his head. "What's a 'bukkit'?"

Ruby sited to herself as she put her paw on her forehead. _"This is gonna be a long trip,"_ she thought.

* * *

**Author's Note: And done. Sorry if this chapter was a little gruesome, but it was necessary to understand Ruby's past. Anyhow, next chapter probably won't be that interesting, but I hope you enjoy it. By the way, I have officially decided that my update schedule will be once every 3-10 days, and I'll try my best to follow it. (unless I have to finish my Spyro fanfic or make a special episode to end a story arc.) However, I'm also going to try to wait until I get at least one review on a chapter. Remember, reviews can have constructive criticism, friendly suggestions, OC requests, or even a positive statement. Also, I have decided to do this every 2-5 chapters, and sorry if it gets redundant. See ya!:**

**Group 1**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 15 Tackle/Leer/Charge/Spark**

**Anubis (riolu) - Level 10 Quick Attack/Endure/Counter/Rock Smash**

**Vixi (zorua) - Level 9 Scratch/Leer/Pursuit/Fake Tears**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 15 Scratch/Fake Out/Growl/Hypnosis**

**Group 2**

**Hazel (vulpix) - Level 14 Quick Attack/Ember/Feint Attack/Confuse Ray**

**Dusty (phanpy) - Level 14 Tackle/Flail/Defense Curl/Rollout**

**Katty (skitty) - Level 12 Tackle/Sing/Water Pulse/Attract**

**Darkfang (poochyena) - Level 14 Tackle/Bite/Howl/Odor Sleuth**

**Piplup - Level 20 Pound/Growl/Bubblebeam/Peck**

**Chimchar - Level 20 Fury Swipes/Leer/Ember/Flame Wheel**


	18. Chapter 16: The Illusionist's Return

**Author's Note: Wow, Tomorrowland was a really good movie, and you should all see it! On that note, welcome back, everyone. Time for another chapter. I thought that it'd be nice to upload this one a little early, just for you guys. Oh, and just so you know, stuff's about to get good in this story, so look forward to all of it. Enjoy this super long chapter, although the title pretty much says it all! BTW, I hate doing this, but I don't own any mystery dungeons except for Mt. Coral. I also own Carlos, Hazel, Dusty, Katty, Darkfang, Darkburn, Sharese and Ruby. Anubis and Vixi belong to November Red Angel and Evan belongs to Xorobukkit.**

* * *

It had been thirty minutes since Ruby had promised to take Carlos and the others to catch up to the guild, and Carlos was just finishing up his packing.

"Okay, I'm gonna go put these items in storage," Carlos said, holding a handful of items. Before he left, he handed Ruby the pink zinc band. "Here, you're gonna need this."

Ruby stared at him. "... Thank you," she said as he left the guild.

* * *

Carlos had just arrived in Treasure Town, looking for Kangaskhan Storage. To his surprise, Kangaskhan and Kecleon were both awake.

"You guys are actually awake?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

Kangaskhan smiled. "Of course, sweetie. Everyone always has to deposit something."

"Yes, and you never know when a customer will come by here," Kecleon added.

"Oh," Carlos said. Then he turned to Kangaskhan. "Anyway, I'd like you to put these items in storage," he said as he laid the items onto the counter. Kangaskhan picked them up. "Got it. Three TMs, nine sticks and two big apples will be put in Team Destiny's storage. Bye!" she said cheerfully.

"Oh! Carlos, since you're here, why don't you buy something?" Kecleon asked him. Carlos looked in his treasure bag. He counted 1,976 poké. He decided to gather a few useful items. "Sure, what are your prices?"

Kecleon took out a list. "Okay, let's see... We have oran berries for 50, heal seeds for 75, blast seeds for 100, and health orbs for 200," he read. Carlos looked confused. "Health 'orbs'?" he wondered. Kecleon nodded. "They're a kind of wonder orb. Wonder orbs can be found in many places, and they have dozens of uses."

Carlos looked intrigued. "Alright, I'll take a blast seed and a health orb," he said to Kecleon, hoping that the items would come in handy.

"Alrighty, here you go!" Kecleon said cheerfully, pulling out a seed and an orb. "That'll be 300 pokè, please!" Carlos dug around and pulled out the money, which Kecleon happily took. Carlos suddenly remembered something else. "Hey, can I sell this?" Carlos asked while pulling out the gold ribbon he had found in Apple Woods.

Kecleon stared at it in shock. "Where on earth did you find a gold ribbon!?" Carlos shrugged. "It's just a ribbon that me and my team found in Apple Woods."

"Those are very expensive! Will you take 2,000 poké for it?" Kecleon asked. Carlos was shocked. That was more money than he was even carrying. "Deal," Carlos said, giving Kecleon the ribbon, who, in turn, gave Carlos the poké.

**(PS77: From this point onward, there aren't going to be as many items in mystery dungeons. I'm sorry, but between writing on mystery dungeon inhabitants, pokémon movesets and every single floor of a mystery dungeon, I can't keep up!)**

"Bye! It was nice to see you guys!" Carlos said, waving to Kangaskhan and Kecleon as he went back to the guild.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hazel and the others had just woken up and were shocked to see that the sky was still dark.

"Wow, how long did we even sleep?" Dusty asked, looking at the sky.

"We've been sleeping for a long time," Darkfang pointed out, "so it's probably a little bit after midnight right now." They all got up. "Well, since we're awake, maybe we should head over to the base camp. Everyone else is probably there already," Piplup said.

"I don't know, Piplup," Chimchar said. "Scaling Mt. Horn will probably take all our energy away." Piplup nodded. His partner was right. A mountain that big would wear them all out in no time. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Hey, we could take Rock Path. It's only five floors," Piplup pointed out.

"But didn't it lead us back here?" Chimchar reminded.

"Yeah, but a tunnel was recently built as a shortcut," Piplup replied. "Alright, so let's take the Rock Path," Katty said as they all took the other path.

* * *

**Rock Path**

**1F** \- On the first floor, the six pokémon appeared in a room with a shroomish.

"I've got it!" Katty said, using a tackle, which instantly knocked out the shroomish. They then proceeded to the next room, where they went up the stairs after Katty and Dusty dealt a double tackle to a nearby ariados.

**2F** \- On the second floor, the team had appeared two steps away from the stairs. "Wow, this is way too easy," Darkfang remarked as they all went up.

**3F** \- On the third floor, the team was able to take out a beautifly, thanks to two consecutive embers from Hazel and Chimchar. As they progressed, they encountered another ariados, which was quick to poison Katty, who tackled it shortly after. In the next room, the teams found the stairs.

**4F** \- On the fourth floor, the stairs were, unfortunately, guarded by a natu, an ariados and a shroomish. Darkfang used bite on the natu, Piplup dealt a peck to the ariados, and Hazel used ember on the shroomish. They then proceeded up the stairs.

**5F** \- On the fifth floor, the group had a lucky break, as the stairs were reachable without encountering any wild pokémon.

* * *

"Whoa, that was it?" Darkfang said, surprised as they all arrived at the exit. "That was a really short mystery dungeon."

Dusty nodded before yawning. "Yeah, good thing we got out before anyone fell asleep," he said tiredly.

"Speaking of which, we should probably be heading to the guild campsite," Hazel said, looking around. "Um... where exactly is the guild campsite?" Everyone facepalmed. "Follow me. It's going to be a long, long walk," Piplup said as he began walking, followed by everyone else.

* * *

Back at the guild, Ruby, Vixi and Anubis were sitting around, waiting for Carlos to return from Treasure Town. They were currently in Team Destiny's room, and were in the middle of a conversation.

"But if you knew that he had a disease, then why didn't you just tell that to everyone in Easlic?" Anubis asked Ruby. She just sighed and stroked Anubis' fur. "No, you don't get it, sweetie. I can't go back there. They all hate me. Even if I was able to prove them wrong, they would have me executed in the blink of an eye." She then noticed that she was petting the dark-furred riolu. "Oh, sorry! Being a daycare owner kind of gives you a motherly attitude towards kids," Ruby said sheepishly.

Anubis ruffled his hair back to the way it was. "It's okay. So, have you been thieving everywhere?" he asked. Ruby shook her head. "No. Up until now, I only stole from Easlic, but after a close escape three days ago, I decided to try someplace different, and I chose here."

"Well, I'm glad you came here. You're really nice," Vixi told her.

Ruby appeared moved by her statement. "Aww... thank you, Vixi." At that moment, Carlos came back with some new items.

"Hey, guys. I got some stuff that might help us," Carlos said, taking out the blast seed and the health orb.

Ruby nodded in approval. "Yeah, those could work. What else do you have?"

Carlos emptied out his treasure bag. "So, we have three oran berries, one blast seed, seven geo pebbles, two apples, a big apple, a pecha berry, an oren berry and a max elixir," he said.

Ruby nodded before looking in the treasure bag. "Hold on. Looks like there's still something inside," she said. Carlos reached inside and pulled out a small box. "That's odd," he said. "Where did this come from?"

"What's inside?" Anubis asked. Carlos opened the little box and pulled out a reviver seed.

"Ooh, a reviver seed. That can come in handy," Ruby said.

Vixi looked at the box. "Look, there's a note." Carlos took out the note and read it. "'Carlos, I'm sorry that you, Anubis and Vixi couldn't go on the expedition, so I hope this puts a smile on your faces! Love, Hazel.'"

"That's pretty cool of her," Anubis remarked. "Well, let's go. It's almost 1:00," Ruby told them. Suddenly, their stomachs rumbled loudly. "... or we could eat."

"If you guys wanna eat, I left a perfect apple that Wigglytuff gave me in the mess hall," Carlos said. "Come on, I'll cut it up for us," Ruby said as Anubis and Vixi left for the mess hall. She turned back to Carlos. "Are you coming?"

"Sure, in a minute," Carlos said. Ruby nodded and left. Carlos stared at the reviver seed. He then took a small, red ribbon from the box and tied it around the seed. _"I never want to lose this,"_ Carlos thought.

All of a sudden, his vision became blurry and he began to wobble. _"Again!?"_ he thought as his vision turned white.

* * *

_Hazel fell down in defeat. She slowly turned her head to look over at her friends, who were all battered and bruised up. They were definitely in no condition to fight. Hazel looked up at some kind of large figure. "Y-You'll never... get away... with this," she said weakly while coughing._

_The figure smirked as it raised its foot right over her. "I already have." It then proceeded to stomp on Hazel repeatedly as she screamed in unbearable agony. Eventually it stopped and picked her up. "Any last words?" the figure asked as it began to clench its fist, constricting Hazel. She didn't move._

_"Well, looks like you're worthless to me now," the figure said as it threw Hazel off the side of the mountain as she began to plummet to the ground._

* * *

Carlos, as he regained his vision, had a horrified expression. _"No... d-did Hazel just... die?"_ he wondered worriedly. But then he remembered. _"Wait... my first vision was of the future... and the next one was of the past. If that pattern continues, then... then there may still be time to save Hazel and the others before it's too late!"_ With that thought in mind, Carlos rushed over to the mess hall, where the others were eating pieces of an apple.

"Guys, we have to go. Now!" Carlos shouted. "Whoa, what's gotten into you?" Ruby asked, concerned.

That's when Carlos froze. If he told them he had visions, it might lead up to them figuring out that he was a human. He figured that information like that should be kept as a secret.

So he decided to wing it. "Look, I just have an eerie feeling that the longer we wait, the closer everyone else is to danger. We need to go."

Anubis sighed. "Fine. But I want a weapon." Carlos sighed in frustration as he quickly looked around the mess hall until he spotted a bucket of wooden planks. "Ah. Here's your weapon," Carlos said as he got the bucket.

"These wooden planks are our weapons?" Anubis asked, unsure of the decision. "What? No! This," Carlos said, emptying the bucket and holding it out to Anubis, "is your weapon."

Anubis took the bucket and placed it on his head. "I'm a warrior!" he said jovially.

"... Yeah, okay," Carlos said, running out of the mess hall. "Come on!"

Ruby looked at Vixi. "Is he always this rushed?" Vixi shook her head. "From what I've seen, he's usually calm and happy."

"Well, let's get going, then!" Anubis said as the three went after Carlos.

* * *

After getting out of the guild, they found Carlos at the crossroads. He looked at Ruby sheepishly. "Where exactly so we go to find Mesprit?"

"Get out your wonder map," Ruby ordered. Carlos took it out of his bag and unraveled it on the ground. Ruby pointed to an area slightly north of the guild. "Right here. This is Northern Desert. It leads to Quicksand Cave, where we'll find Mesprit," she said.

"All right! Let's do this!" Anubis said excitedly as he, Carlos, Vixi and Ruby began their walk towards Northern Desert.

* * *

After an extensive, twenty minute walk, Teams Poképals and Destiny finally arrived at the campsite. Everyone else had already gotten there, and we're fast asleep.

"So, where do we put our tent?" Hazel asked aloud. After a few seconds, a very tired Chatot emerged from the front tent. He hopped over to the group of pokémon annoyedly. "Can't you see that we are trying to sleep?" Chatot said in a quiet, but rash voice.

"Sorry," Katty apologized, "but we need a tent to sleep in. Chatot sighed. "I will set up your tent." He then went over to a pile of supplies and got an orange piece of fabric and some poles.

After a few minutes, the tent was made.

"There's your tent. Now go to sleep," Chatot groaned as he went back to his tent. The other pokémon got inside of the tent that Chatot made them.

"Finally, I get to sleep," Dusty said as he laid down. "Good night, everyone."

"Good night," everyone else said. The six of them laid down and fell asleep, one by one, until Hazel was the only one awake. _"I hope Carlos, Anubis and Vixi are doing okay,"_ she thought before falling asleep.

* * *

"Well, here we are. The Northern Desert," Ruby said as the group of four arrived at a desert.

"Wow, it's kind of windy," Carlos remarked. "Yeah, there's a few sandstorms, so we need to hustle on those floors. Also, I hope you brought plenty of apples, because the only food in here is grimy food," Ruby explained to them.

"What's grimy food?" Anubis asked.

"Well from what I know, it's food that likely expired a long time ago. If you eat it, you might become numb, blind or poisoned," Ruby replied.

"Oh, so it's basically drugs," Anubis said.

"Exactly. Now, let's go," Ruby said as the four of them entered the harsh-weathered desert.

* * *

**Northern Desert**

**1F** \- On the first floor, the four of them walked to the corridor on the left, where they found a sleeping cacnea. Carlos slowly walked over and instantly tackled it before it could wake up. In the next room, they were able to reach the stairs before another cacnea got to them.

**2F** \- On the second floor, they were able to find the stairs in the third room.

**3F** \- On the third floor, Carlos was instantly tackled by an aron. When it attempted to ram him, he jumped over it and dealt a spark attack, knocking it out. In the next room, a cub one tried to headbutt the team, but was stopped in its tracks with a scratch from Ruby and a quick attack from Anubis. Shortly after, the team was able to reach the stairs.

**4F** \- On the fourth floor, they were already in the same room as the stairs.

**5F** \- On the fifth floor, the team was already in a sandstorm.

"Seriously?" Carlos said while squinting his eyes. "Okay, what do sandstorms do?"

"Basically, they occasionally damage pokémon of all types, with the exception of rock, ground and steel types!" Ruby shouted over the noise of the sandstorm. Then she spotted the stairs. "Hurry!" They all went up the stairs before any of them could get damaged.

**6F** \- On the sixth floor, the team went to the next room to find a cubone guarding the stairs. When it saw them, it attempted to hit Vixi with its club, but she scratched the cubone before it dealt any damage. They then proceeded up the stairs.

**7F** \- On the seventh floor, Carlos instantly picked up 103 pokè and a... slimy, purple substance.

"Ew, what is this thing?" Carlos asked. Ruby looked closely at it. "That would be grimy food." Carlos looked ahead and saw that the stairs were in the next room, but a larvitar was closing in on them.

Carlos suddenly got an idea. "EAT DRUGS, PUNK!" he shouted as he broke off a piece of the grimy food and threw the piece at the larvitar, which paralyzed him. "Let's go!" Carlos said, leading his team to the stairs while the paralysis was still working.

**8F-14F** \- For floors 8-14, only five pokémon were fought. Carlos threw pieces of grimy food at them so he and Ruby could finish them off, but they let Anubis and Vixi finish most of them off for the sake of experience. Other than that, they were able to find 214 pokè and a special band.

(**PS77: Okay, so I may have gotten a little lazy...)**

**15F** \- On the fifteenth floor, Carlos took a step further to look past the corridors and was suddenly pelted by chestnuts.

"Owowow!" Carlos exclaimed as he took a step back. When he looked at where he was standing, he saw a tile with a chestnut picture on it.

"Ugh," he said, "it looks like this place has some traps, so watch out, everyone." As they carefully proceeded, they head a low growl.

"Oh, I'm so hungry," Anubis whined as his stomach growled again. "Well, I guess a quick meal wouldn't hurt," Carlos said as he pulled out an apple and broke it into four pieces, giving one to each of his friends.

After they ate, they began to search for the stairs, until Ruby spotted them. She was about to go, but Carlos stopped her. "Hold on. There could be a trap."

Ruby looked skeptical. "Do you really believe that?" Carlos took out a gel pebble and threw it right in front of the stairs, which was followed by the ground beneath it exploding, revealing a tile with a voltorb picture.

"... Never mind," Runy said blankly as the four made their way up the stairs.

* * *

When the team emerged from the staircase, they walked forward to find various gatherings of quicksand surrounding a very large pool of quicksand. "Ruby? Are you sure this is the right place?" Carlos asked.

"Yes, Mesprit's lake is underground, but we might have to rest," Ruby said.

"Man, that's a relief! This bucket's starting to hurt," Anubis remarked as he took the bucket off of his head. "Here," he said as he gave the bucket to Carlos, who put it in his treasure bag.

"DIE!" came a random voice. The four jumped as a shadow ball came hurdling at them. When they looked at the direction of the attack, they saw a zoroark smirking at them.

Ruby, Anubis and Vixi didn't know why the zoroark wanted to attack them.

Carlos, however, gave the Zoroark a really hard glare, activating his intimidate ability.

"Well, well, well," Evan said, slowly approaching Carlos, "look who I managed to find on my midnight walk."

**(PS77: I know that technically it would be 2:00 or something, but let's just say that Evan is a... nocturnal kind of pokémon.)**

"What do you want, Evan!?" Carlos asked coldly. Everyone looked at him. "Dude, you know this creep?" Anubis asked.

Carlos glared at Evan. "He's a creep that attacked Katty. It was before Team Destiny was even formed," he said. "So if I had to guess, I'd say he was a murderer!"

That crossed a line with Evan.

"How dare you!?" he shouted angrily. He got into a battle stance. "Now you're gonna get it!"

"Bring it on!" Carlos said as he and the others took their own battle stances.

**BOSS FIGHT #5: Evan (2nd)**

**[_Kingdom Hearts II: The 13th Struggle_ music]**

Carlos attempted to crash into Evan with a spark attack, but he used a shadow ball to repel him away. Ruby tried to scratch him, but he was able to dodge by jumping right over her.

"Wow. This is even more pitiful than last time," Evan remarked. While he was talking, Anubis was able to hit him with a feint, which distracted Evan long enough for Carlos to hit him with spark, doing even more damage.

As Evan got up, he tried to think of a way to beat them. Suddenly, he saw Vixi and smirked as he ran straight for her.

"Vixi!" Anubis yelled as he hit the back of Evan's head with rock smash. Vixi appeared to be too terrified to attack, though. As Evan attempted to scratch her, Anubis hit him with another feint and Ruby landed a scratch. Evan looked back at Carlos and ran right for him, charging up a shadow claw.

Carlos decided to get creative. When Evan was close enough, he whipped out the bucket in his treasure bag and used it to give Evan a devastating uppercut, sending him in the air. When he came back down, he was knocked out.

"Guys, we did it!" Carlos cheered as he, Anubis and Ruby shared a group hug. Then they noticed that Vixi was still looking at the zoroark, terrified. Suddenly, Evan got back up. Then he began to walk towards the four pokémon, who each took battle stances.

Evan put his hands up. "Look, I know that I hurt people, but I just have to. It's my job."

"Well, why can't you just quit?" Ruby asked him. Memories of Zoraya flooded his head. "Look, it's complicated, but I'm usually sent to kill people who are troublesome to others. I can't stop going after you," Evan looked around to make sure that nobody was watching, "but I can give you some valuable intel."

**(PS77: For people who have been keeping up with the story: I know that I said that Evan's love interest was named Zori, but I need to save that name for something else.)**

"Really?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah," Evan said. "Okay, you know who Sharese is? Well, I heard her say that she's coming up with a plan that's gonna make you wish you were never born."

Carlos nodded. "So you work with Sharese?"

"Yes," Evan replied.

"Wow. Well, thanks for the warning," Carlos said. "No problem," Evan said. Before he left, he turned back to the team. "Oh, I almost forgot - can I have that bukkit?" Evan asked, pointing at the bucket in Carlos' grasp.

"First, don't you mean 'bucket'? And second, why?" Carlos asked in a confused manner.

"IT'S A BUKKIT AND I NEED IT NOW!" Evan said crazily. Carlos, scared of what he would do next, hurled the bucket to Evan, who caught it and began to stroke it. "Myyy... pwwwesssiousssss..." he cooed in an eerie voice.

Carlos and the others began to back away, creeped out by Evan's antics. "Bye!" Evan said cheerfully as he made a quick retreat. As he was running, he smiled to himself. _"Maybe he can even save Zoraya._" He began stroking his bucket again. _"What do you think, Bukkit?"_

When Evan left, Carlos turned back to Ruby. "So we just jump in the quicksand to get to Mesprit?" he asked. Ruby nodded.

"Awesome!" Anubis shouted as he jumped in. Carlos and Ruby jumped in after.

They all looked at Vixi, who hadn't jumped in yet. "Vixi, come on. You can do it," Carlos encouraged. Vixi still looked scared. "What if something bad happens to me?" she asked. Carlos held out his paw. "Come on. I'll make sure that nothing bad happens to you," he said in a gentle voice.

Although reluctant, Vixi took Carlos' paw and they all sank together in the big pool of quicksand.

* * *

After a while, they all fell into some sort of cavern.

Carlos let go of Vixi and yawned. "Well, we can continue later, but for now, let's get some sleep.

"You said it," Anubis said as he curled up and promptly fell asleep.

"Agreed," Ruby said as she fell asleep as well.

Carlos smiled a bit. "Well, Vixi, looks like we should get to sleep, too." They both got into comfortable positions and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Okay, I admit that I may have been a little lazy with this chapter, but it was pretty good overall, right? Anyways, like I said, see you all in the next 3-10 days!**


	19. Chapter 17: Meeting Mesprit

**Author's Note: Hello, ladies and gentlemen. I am back for another chapter. This chapter isn't exactly action packed until the near end, but there is some context. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Carlos woke up feeling a lot more refreshed. Then he noticed that he was in another void. "Another dream?" he said aloud. Diancie suddenly appeared in front of him with a smile on her face. "It's good to see that you and the others are on track," she said._

_"__Well, Ruby didn't know where Uxie was, so we decided to go to Mesprit for help," Carlos explained._

_"__Well, that's great. It was nice of you to not turn Ruby in," Diancie told him. "Well, she's had a rough time, so I don't think going to jail would help to heal her emotions," Carlos replied._

_"__See, that's why I have faith in you, Carlos. You never see criminals as bad people. You just see them as good pokémon with dark pasts," Diancie said._

_"__Thanks," Carlos said, happy that Diancie appreciated his kind nature. "By the way, I have a question. When my friends and I were fighting Evan, he said that he worked with Sharese. Is Sharese part of this 'new evil' that you spoke of?"_

_Diancie sighed. "Well, the thing is, Sharese is-" Suddenly, the two were caught in a tremor._

_"__Diancie, what's happening!?" Carlos asked in a panic. Diancie appeared to be confused. "I don't know. This isn't my doing..." All of a sudden everything went black in Carlos' dream._

* * *

_Carlos suddenly found himself in another void, only this one wasn't rainbow colored. It was more of a yellow and green mix._

_"__Hey, what happened to the void, Diancie?" Carlos asked. But Diancie had disappeared. "Diancie, where are you?"_

_"__Greetings, child," a voice came from behind Carlos. He turned around to find a pokémon. It was small, gray, and slightly resembled a fairy. It had two tails, each one holding a jewel in their tips. The pokémon's face was partially pink, with four drooping appendages of the same color. It also had a jewel encrusted on its forehead._

**(PS77: Mini-Disclaimer: If you see a description of a legendary pokémon, I most likely got it from Bulbapedia.)**

_Carlos merely reacted with his composed and intellectual instinct. "OH MY GOD, SOMEBODY MELTED DIANCIE'S FACE!" he screamed._

_The pokémon facepalmed. "No! I'm Mesprit!" the pokemon, Mesprit, yelled. "Oh! Um... sorry," Carlos said sheepishly. Mesprit kept looking at him. "Isn't there anything else you would like to do with a legendary at your presence?" Mesprit asked him._

_"__Uh... hello?" Carlos said. "No. You are supposed to bow when you are being addressed by a legendary pokémon," Mesprit told him. Carlos nodded and bowed. "Geez, is there, like, a book on etiquette or something?" He asked jokingly._

_"__Yes," Mesprit said seriously._

_Carlos appeared shocked by this. Then he remembered Diancie. "Wait, I'm getting off topic. Why did you interrupt my other dream?" he asked._

_"__Well, shouldn't I be asking YOU about why you are here?" Mesprit replied. "Well, Diancie told me to meet Uxie in Fogbound Lake, but I don't know where that is. So, I made a deal with a glameow. She said that you may be able to take me to him," Carlos explained._

_Mesprit nodded. "Yes, I am quite fond of Uxie. I can take you to him. But first, you must pass my test." Carlos nodded in understanding. "What's the test?" he asked._

_"__When you get down to my lake, you will battle me. Then I will see if your will is strong enough," Mesprit said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must make preparations." With that said, Mesprit disappeared and Carlos was surrounded in white light._

* * *

Carlos woke up instantly. He looked around and saw that he was still in the cave, and the others were still sleeping. He quickly shook them all awake.

They all groaned. "Carlos, what is it?" Ruby asked. "It's probably only 5:00 in the morning."

"Everyone, listen up. I just had a dream where Mesprit challenged me to a battle," Carlos said. Everyone perked up. "You mean she actually came to you in a dream?" Ruby asked, surprised.

"Well, there's no way that she can beat us!" Anubis said, puffing out his chest pridefully. "Well, why don't we all set off now and find out?" Carlos proposed. Everyone agreed as they all proceeded towards Quicksand Cave.

* * *

**Quicksand Cave**

**B1F** \- On the first basement floor, they were able to reach the stairs after Carlos picked up an oran berry and defeated a sandshrew with a tackle.

**B2F** \- On the second basement floor, they went up the stairs, which were directly beneath Anubis.

"Awesome," Anubis remarked as they all went up.

**B3F** \- On the third basement floor, Anubis defeated a larvitar with rock smash before finding the stairs.

**B4F** \- On the fourth basement floor, the team passed a few corridors without running into any pokémon, until they found the stairs, which were guarded by a nincada.

"Well, might as well use this," Carlos said, as he took the oren berry from his bag and threw it at the nincada. It fainted upon eating it, allowing the team to go up the stairs.

**B5F** \- On the fifth basement floor, Carlos' team instantly gasped at the sight of stairs suddenly materializing in front of them. Reluctantly, they all entered.

**(PS77: I am NOT explaining how the bazaar works again.)**

**Hidden Bazaar** \- They emerged in a room that had many shops. After the kirlia explained how the hidden bazaar worked, they all went up the next stairs.

**B7F** \- On the seventh basement floor, the team encountered a bunch of enemies: a larvitar, two sandshrew and a skorupi. Carlos used spark on the skorupi, Ruby scratched a sandshrew, Vixi scratched the other sandshrew, and Anubis hit the larvitar with a rock smash. Once they were all defeated, the team proceeded up the stairs, which were conveniently located in the next room.

**B8F** \- On the eighth basement floor, they found the stairs with little effort.

**B9F** \- On the ninth basement floor, the team encountered a single nincada, which Vixi defeated with a pursuit attack. When they found the stairs, Carlos picked up a foe-fear orb and 105 poké before leading his team there.

**B10F** \- On the tenth basement floor, the team quickly entered the stairs that were next to them while avoiding a pupitar they saw.

* * *

**Midpoint**

"Whew, that was close!" Carlos remarked as they all arrived at a rest point. Carlos then saw a rock that resembled Kangaskhan. "What's this thing?" Carlos asked, pointing at the oddly shaped rock.

"That's a Kangaskhan rock," Ruby explained. "You can use them to store or take items from your storage."

"Oh, well, I'd better pit these in," Carlos said, taking out a special band and putting it in the statue's pouch.

He turned back to his team. "Okay, I believe that there are still ten more floors to go, so what do you all want to do?" Carlos asked, hoping for suggestions.

"We can wait here and eat some apples," Ruby told him. "It could also help to let Anubis and Vixi rest a little bit.

"I agree," Vixi said softly.

"You betcha," Anubis agreed.

"Alright, so we'll stay here for about four hours, and we'll eat some apples," Carlos summarized as he took out the two apples from his bag. Ruby used her scratch to cut them in half, and they each took a piece, beginning their break.

* * *

"EVERYBODY WAKE UP!" Loudred screamed, his loud voice echoing throughout the entire forest area.

Hazel and the rest of Team Destiny got up groggily. "Man, I wish Loudred would take a hint," Darkfang muttered under his breath. When the team got out, they were greeted by Team Poképals. "Hey, guys. How was your sleep?" Piplup asked them.

"It was awesome until a purple screaming oaf got involved," Darkfang remarked, making everyone laugh. Soon, everyone woke up and Wigglytuff got them all together.

"All right, friends! We're here to get to Uxie! You can go in your own teams, but here is a refresher on where Fogbound Lake is," Wigglytuff said cheerfully, taking out a wonder map and pointing somewhere. "It's right past foggy forest. Good luck, friends!" With that said, everyone departed to their tents to plan their strategies on how to handle the mystery dungeon.

"So, what's our plan?" Katty asked.

Hazel yawned. "Well, honestly, we should sleep for a few more hours. We're all kind of tired," she said. Dusty yawned after that. "You're right, Hazel. I'm so tired." The four pokémon fell back asleep in their tent while the others prepared to leave.

* * *

After a fast four hours, Carlos' group had rested and eaten enough to continue searching for Mesprit.

"All right, is everyone ready?" Carlos asked. When everyone nodded, he smiled. "Great! Let's go," Carlos said, leading his team to the next half of Quicksand Cave.

* * *

**Quicksand Pit**

**B11F** \- On the eleventh basement floor, the team was quick to encounter a pupitar, which was easily dealt with by two scratches from Ruby and Vixi. In the next room, they found the stairs.

**B12F** \- On the twelfth basement floor, the stairs were under Carlos. He decided that he wasn't going to question it and simply led his team up.

**B13F** \- On the thirteenth basement floor, the team was able to gain a cheri berry before going up the stairs.

**B14F** \- On the fourteenth basement floor, the team had trouble finding the stairs, as Carlos was ambushed by a tyranitar. It dealt powerful blows, but Anubis was able to cleverly defeat it with a rock smash, which was quickly followed up by a feint. In the next room, the team found the stairs after Carlos took the time to pick up 55 pokè.

**B15F** \- On the fifteenth basement floor, Carlos and the others were attacked by a pupitar and mawile. Carlos was able to finish off the mawile with a spark, and Ruby successfully hypnotized the pupitar, allowing Anubis to hit it on the head with rock smash. After a little more time, they were intercepted by a vicious tyranitar. Ruby growled at it in a cute way, making it stop in its tracks. Vixi then hit it with a pursuit, knocking it out. They then proceeded to the next room, where they found the stairs.

**B16F** \- On the sixteenth basement floor, the team was able to reach the stairs before being intercepted by any other pokémon.

**B17F** \- On the seventeenth basement floor, it took a while to find the stairs, but they managed to get an oran berry out of it, which he used to heal his injuries.

**B18F** \- On the eighteenth basement floor, another tyranitar tried to hurt Carlos, but he moved out of the way in time to tackle it, along with Anubis using feint. A little more walking got them to the stairs.

**B19F** \- On the ninteenth basement floor, the team had a close call with a fast ninjask. It was ultimately defeated by Carlos using a spark attack. In the next room, he found a max elixir and the stairs.

**B20F** \- On the twentieth basement floor, the stairs were right in front of Carlos.

"Mesprit must have put the stairs next to us," Carlos deduced.

"She must be anticipating this moment," Ruby added. Anubis balled up his fists. "So what? We can still take her on in a fight!" He was about to go up the stairs, but Carlos stopped him.

"Guys," he said, "this could be one of our most difficult battles yet. But I actually have a plan." So, they all huddled together to hear his plan. When he finished explaining it, they all nodded.

Carlos looked back at the stairs and took a deep breath. "Okay... let's do this," he said, leading his team up the stairs.

* * *

When they got to the end of the stairs, they had arrived at some cavern. A little ahead of it, there was a beautiful lake that had an odd green glow coming from the other side. Carlos and his friends all looked around in awe.

"The lake is beautiful, isn't it?" said a voice. They all turned around to see Mesprit. "Now, how about a proper introduction?" She bowed briefly. "Greetings. I am Mesprit, the guardian of the Underground Lake." Everyone else bowed. "My name is Carlos, and these three are Ruby, Anubis and Vixi," Carlos replied.

"Now, I understand that you wish for me to take you to Fogbound Lake," Mesprit said as she suddenly took a battle stance, "so prove to me that you are all worthy."

The other team took stances of their own. "Let's do it!" they all shouted.

**BOSS FIGHT #6: Mesprit**

**[_Mario and Luigi Dream Team: Boss Battle_ music]**

Carlos began by attempting to ram Mesprit with a tackle, but she was able to easily dodge. Ruby attempted to scratch her, but Mesprit simply moved back to avoid it.

"Guys, we need to land a hit on her somehow!" Ruby said to her teammates. Vixi nodded and attempted to use pursuit. It was too late for Mesprit to dodge... so she pulled up a shield at the last second, knocking Vixi backwards.

Carlos' team ran over to her and Anubis knelt down to help her up. "Vixi, are you okay!?" he shouted. Vixi nodded, making Anubis sigh in relief. He looked back at Mesprit, who had just put down the shield. "What was that?" Anubis asked.

"That's protect. It blocks against every move except-" Carlos suddenly froze. He and Anubis smirked at each other. "I'm on it!" Anubis said, running towards the legendary pokémon. Mesprit attempted to use protect, but Anubis was ready for her. He jumped up, rearing back his fist. When he was close enough, his fist glowed white as he punched the shield, breaking it and damaging the clearly-shocked Mesprit.

She got back up after dusting herself off. "Hmm... you are all very powerful, but you haven't beaten me yet!" Mesprit said, firing star projectiles at all four pokémon, landing a decent amount of damage to each of them. She then used confusion to levitate Carlos off the ground and into a rock.

When Carlos got up, he felt a little disoriented. He began using sparks all over the place, almost hitting Anubis.

"Guys, watch out! He's confused!" Ruby shouted, avoiding a tackle from the confused hero.

"What do we do!?" Vixi asked with worry. Anubis smirked. "I say it's time that we show Mesprit our new moves," he said, jumping up to Mesprit and quickly closed his eyes and placed his palm on her chest. Suddenly, she felt a powerful force push her back.

Ruby then ran towards her, but disappeared. She then reappeared in front of Mesprit and attacked her.

Carlos, who had just snapped out of his confusion, quickly bit Mesprit hard, actually making her flinch.

"Finish it, Vixi!" everyone else cheered. Vixi ran over to Mesprit and began to repeatedly scratch her.

Eventually, Mesprit had enough. "Stop!" she shouted, slightly scaring the others. She composed herself and looked at the four heroes. "Well done, heroes. You have all proven your worth. I will take you all to see Uxie."

_**Mesprit joined the party!**_

Everyone cheered upon hearing this. Carlos turned back to look at Mesprit. "So, when can we go?" he asked anxiously.

"Well, it isn't easy to transport a pokemon to a place that far, let alone four of them," Mesprit explained to him, "so it would take me at least a few hours to gather up that much psychic energy. Forgive me."

"No, no, it's not your fault! I can wait a few hours, take all the time you need," Carlos said quickly.

Mesprit nodded. "We'll leave soon, so don't worry." This confused Carlos. "'We?' Are you coming with us?" he asked in confusion.

"Well, I could stay here, if you want..." Mesprit began. "No, that's not what I meant. I just wanted to make sure. You're welcome on our team anytime," Carlos told her.

Mesprit smiled. "You truly are a noble hero. Thank you. Oh, and keep yourself busy with this," she said as a book floated from the other side of the lake. Carlos took it and looked at the title, which read _Book of Etiquette._

Carlos looked at Mesprit. "Seriously?"

* * *

**Author's Note: Kind of a slow chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it! Next chapter is definitely gonna be enjoyable. Speaking of which:**

**Group 1**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 17 Tackle/Leer/Bite/Spark**

**Anubis (riolu) - Level 15 Feint/Endure/Force Palm/Rock Smash**

**Vixi (zorua) - Level 13 Fury Swipes/Leer/Pursuit/Fake Tears**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 17 Scratch/Fake Out/Feint Attack/Hypnosis**

**Mesprit - Level 25 Swift/Rest/Confusion/Protect**

**Group 2**

**Hazel (vulpix) - Level 16 Quick Attack/Ember/Feint Attack/Fire Spin**

**Dusty (phanpy) - Level 15 Tackle/Flail/Defense Curl/Rollout**

**Katty (skitty) - Level 15 Tackle/Disarming Voice/Water Pulse/Attract**

**Darkfang (poochyena) - Level 15 Tackle/Bite/Howl/Odor Sleuth**


	20. Chapter 18: Primal Confrontation

**Author's Note: I'm back after a surprisingly short while. I'd update everyday if I could, but 3000+ words is no easy feat. Plus, I'm kind of a procrastinator. Sorry. Also, I'm changing my update schedule from 3-10 days to 1-8 days, mostly because this story is getting really interesting. Even I'm on the edge of my seat, and I'm the one who's writing it! This update doesn't apply to special episodes, since they're a bit longer. Speaking of which, there's going to be a special episode soon. I'm not saying it'll be right after this chapter. It might and it might not, but it'll be soon for sure. Anyways, enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Ah. I feel way better," Katty said as she stretched a little. The other members of Team Destiny got up. The rest of the guild had already gone off towards Fogbound Lake.

"So, is everyone ready to go?" Hazel asked.

"Well, it's gonna be difficult without items..." Dusty said. "I'll try to get one at our storage," Hazel said, walking to the Kangaskhan Rock.

"Wow," Katty told Dusty, "Hazel is being a really good leader now." Dusty nodded. "It's nice to see how being in a team has made her less timid." After a few more seconds, Hazel returned, holding an oran berry. "I was able to get one, now let's go on," she said, leading Dusty, Katty and Darkfang into Foggy Forest.

* * *

**Foggy Forest**

**1F** \- On the first floor, the four of them encountered a dunsparce that was defeated with a bite from Darkfang. In the next room, the team found the stairs.

**2F** \- On the second floor, they found the stairs in the same room that they were in.

**3F** \- On the third floor, the team went from room to room, trying to find the stairs, until they found them being guarded by a skiploom and a cherubi. Hazel blasted the cherubi with ember. The skiploom attempted to hit her, but she quickly reacted by spewing a tornado of fire at it.

"Whoa... I just learned fire spin!" Hazel said in excitement before leading everyone up the stairs.

**4F** \- On the fourth floor, the team encountered another skiploom that spat out bullet seeds at Darkfang. This angered him as he bit the helpless grass type as hard as he could. Going further, they ran into a zigzagoon that was defeated with a rollout from Dusty. A smeargle tried to attack them, but Dusty rammed it while still in the middle of his rollout attack. Entering the next room, they were able to find the stairs.

**5F** \- On the fifth floor, the stairs were in the next room, along with a cheri berry that Dusty decided to hold on to.

**6F** \- On the sixth floor, the team had to fight a stantler and a noctowl. The noctowl was able to scratch Katty, who purred softly, using her newly learned disarming voice to defeat it. The stantler was taken care of with a tackle from her as well. After some more roaming, they found the stairs in the third room.

**7F** \- On the seventh floor, the stairs were directly behind Katty, although it took her a while to see them.

**8F** \- On the eighth floor, Dusty was able to put natural gift to use when he was able to defeat a tough skiploom that had been guarding the stairs.

**9F** \- On the ninth floor, Dusty, unfortunately, had to use his cheri berry when a breloom had paralyzed him with effect spore. Katty used disarming voice to finish it off. When they got to the next room, they saw the stairs.

**10F** \- On the tenth floor, the team was intercepted by a pinsir that was easily taken down with Hazel's fire spin. After looking in a few more rooms, they found the stairs being guarded by a sleeping noctowl. Darkfang slowly approached it and tackled it to the ground, allowing the team to go up before it could attack.

**11F** \- On the eleventh floor, the team defeated a pachirisu to get to the stairs on the other side of the room.

* * *

"Whoa," Dusty said as they got out of the dungeon. They all looked up and noticed that a large platform was holding an area that flowed with many waterfalls.

"That must be Fogbound Lake..." Katty said in awe.

"Hold it right there!" someone said. Everyone turned around and glared at the sight of four very annoying pokemon.

"Ha! You're leader isn't even here?" Coal asked incredulously.

"I bet he doesn't even have the guts to face up to us, after what happened last time," Cindy said.

"Aren't WE the ones that won!?" Hazel shouted.

"Well, we're gonna mop the floor with you morons, since you don't have your leader with you," Coal said as his team took battle stances.

"Yeah, well guess what!?" Darkfang said, taking his own stance, followed by the other members of Team Destiny. "Now you gotta deal with me!"

**BOSS FIGHT #7: Team Ember (2nd)**

**[_Pokémon Heartgold and Soulsilver: Rival Battle_ music]**

Coal ran fast in an attempt to bite Darkfang, but he sidestepped out of the way and bit Coal in the leg. Fen then fired an ember at Katty, who fired a water pulse back at her. When the two attacks collided, the water pulse blasted throught the ember and hit Fen, dealing high damage.

Leo hit Dusty with a hard headbutt, making him flinch. He took this chance to use ember on him, dealing more damage and successfully burning him. As he tried to use ember again, Dusty stopped flinching and jumped to his side and used a rollout, repeatedly attacking Leo. When he finished, he saw that Leo didn't look that hurt.

_"__Dang it!"_ Dusty thought. _"This burn must be diminishing my attack power."_ Dusty suddenly felt the burn on his back.

"Wow, it's like your team got even worse," Cindy said as she hit Hazel with a quick attack, followed by an ember, which Hazel absorbed.

Hazel smiled. "Apparently, you forgot about my flash fire ability," she said, letting loose a fire spin that did little damage to Cindy, but left her in a vortex that did even more.

Coal was able to land an ember on Darkfang, who gritted his teeth in pain. Coal then attempted to knock him away by using roar, but Darkfang planted his paws to the ground to prevent that.

"Ha! You're not even trying!" Coal tainted in between roars.

Fen suddenly charged at Katty while surrounding herself in flames. Katty, who wasn't expecting it, was quickly damaged. She got back up and fired a water pulse that Fen jumped over.

The water pulse ended up hitting Leo, also miraculously confusing him. Dusty took this chance in order to hit him with one more rollout. Despite the burn, which was beginning to fatigue Dusty, the supereffective attacks were just enough to knock Leo out. Dusty then took more damage from the burn.

Hazel noticed Dusty's burn and canceled her fire spin to throw him the oran berry, which he caught and ate, restoring his health. "Thanks," he said.

Unfortunately, this allowed Cindy to use a smokescreen on Hazel, giving her a coughing fit. Dusty saw this and attempted a rollout, which successfully damaged Cindy, but not enough to knock her out.

Katty kept trying to hit Fen with water pulse, but she kept dodging them. "That's a pathetic way to attack!" Fen taunted. All of a sudden, Katty ran at Fen quickly and used her tail to repeatedly slap her at a fast pace until she fell to the ground, knocked out.

Satisfied, Katty saw that Dusty and Hazel were having a little trouble dealing with Cindy, so she shot a water pulse at her, scoring a direct hit and knocking her out. They all then took note of the fight going on between Darkfang and Coal.

"Should we help him?" Katty asked as Darkfang dodged an oncoming ember from Coal.

"Nah, he's got this," Dusty said.

Coal looked around and saw that his teammates were all defeated. He glared at Darkfang. "My teammates may have lost, but you're going down!" he shouted, unleashing his roar at Darkfang, who slid back a bit from the force. He glared back at Coal. "Not if I can help it!" he shouted, unleashing his own roar. The two dog pokémon struggled to outlast the other one, keeping their roars at maximum power.

Soon, Coal couldn't handle his roar, and he was blown back into a tree, when he was knocked out.

"And THAT'S how it's done!" Darkfang said triumphantly. The rest of the team went over to him.

"You guys actually did better than I thought you would," Darkfang said.

"Uh... thanks?" Hazel said, confused if that was an insult or a compliment. She then looked at where Team Ember lay, defeated.

But they were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, wasn't Team Ember just here?" Hazel asked her teammates confusedly.

"They probably ran off," Dusty noted. "Come on, let's go." They all proceeded to head to the direction of the lake they saw.

When they finally got there, the rest of the guild was waiting for them.

Chatot looked angry. "What took you four so long!? We've been waiting for hours!" Hazel was about to respond, when everyone took note of a black speck in the sky. They were confused as to what it was, when the speck got bigger. And bigger. And bigger. Soon, they all realized that it was a large pokémon that was about to land on them.

"TAKE COVER!" Chatot shouted as everyone dove out of the way. Suddenly, the figure landed, creating a slight tremor. When the guild pokémon looked up, they saw a large bipedal pokémon. It was red with a few gray marks, had yellow eyes, and large white claws.

"Eek! It's the groudon illusion!" Sunflora shrieked. Everyone appeared to be scared of the pokémon. It then went over to a very scared Hazel. It kneeled down and smiled at her. "Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you. My name is Groudon, and I work for Uxie," the pokémon, Groudon, said. "And I'm real. Not an illusion."

Everyone looked relieved to know that Groudon was a friend of Uxie. "So, Mr. Groudon, what are you doing here?" Katty asked, not wanting to get on Groudon's bad side.

"Well, Uxie didn't want Steam Cave to slow you down, so he sent me to come pick you guys up," Groudon replied, holding out his large hand. "Just hop onto my hand, and Uxie can teleport us all." Everyone did as he said and got on his hand. Suddenly, they all felt some sort of energy flowing through their bodies.

Then, they disappeared in a flash.

* * *

When the flash subsided, everyone saw that they were back in Fogbound Lake. Team Destiny, who were unfamiliar with the sight, stared in awe. Even Darkfang.

"I'm glad you could make it," Uxie said, floating near the lake edge. Groudon lowered his hand to let everyone off. "Thank you for finding them, Groudon."

"No problem," Groudon replied.

"So, to tell you all the truth, I requested that Wigglytuff bring you all here," Uxie explained to the guild members.

_"__So that's why we came here,"_ Hazel thought.

"So, why did you want to see us, friend?" Wigglytuff asked happily. "Well, I have orders to talk to a certain apprentice of yours," Uxie said. "I believe his name was Carlos."

At this point, everyone was giving Wigglytuff and Chatot slight glares.

Chatot smiled sheepishly. "Yes, yes... about that... you see, we didn't exactly... bring Carlos with us," he admitted in a super-nervous voice.

Uxie just stared him dead in the eye. "... What."

* * *

Back at the entrance to Steam Cave, there was another flash of light. When it faded, Carlos, Ruby, Anubis, Vixi and Mesprit were seen looking at the lake.

"... Whoa," was all that Anubis was able to say.

"Agreed," Carlos said, equally surprised by the lake's appearance. Mesprit looked up. "Uxie is up there, and it is likely that your guild friends are, too. Forgive me, but this is the closest that I could get us to them on such short notice."

"Don't worry about it, Mesprit," Carlos said reassuringly, "this is a good time to train. Come on, let's go." With items already in hand, the four pokémon, now accompanied by Mesprit, headed into Steam Cave.

* * *

**Steam Cave**

**1F** \- On the first floor, the pokémon were already beginning to sweat.

"Whoa, it's hot in here!" Carlos said, using his paw to try and fan himself.

"That's where the name comes from," Mesprit told him. As they began to traverse through the mystery dungeon, a snubbull rammed Anubis.

"Oh no you don't!" Anubis sassed, using his force palm to blow it back. Vixi followed up with fury swipes, knocking the snubbull out. In the next room, they found the stairs.

**2F** \- On the second floor, the stairs were in the next room. They were guarded by a farfetch'd, which was easily taken out with a spark from Carlos.

**3F** \- On the third floor, the stairs were right under Mesprit.

"... Does this happen a lot?" she asked confusedly.

"You don't even know," Anubis said as they all went up the stairs.

**4F** \- On the fourth floor, a magby hit Mesprit and Ruby with a flame burst. Ruby used a feint attack while Mesprit used swift, successfully defeating it. In the next room, Carlos found a TM, whose label read 'Rock Slide'. After a while, they found the stairs.

**5F** \- On the fifth floor, the team defeated a slug a with Vixi's pursuit before heading into the next room and finding the stairs.

**6F** \- On the sixth floor, they were in the same room as the stairs, as were two magby and a numel. Carlos tackled the numel, while Mesprit used confusion on one magby, leaving Anubis to rock smash the other one as they all headed up the stairs.

**7F** \- On the seventh floor, the five pokémon found the stairs a few steps ahead of them.

**8F** \- On the eighth floor, the team found the stairs in the next room after Carlos bit a yanma.

* * *

Uxie was floating back and forth in worry. "This is bad, this is bad, this is really bad!" he said in his panic.

"Maybe we can go back for him," Chatot suggested to nobody in particular.

Everyone was so busy arguing about what to do, that they failed to notice a green fog rolling in. The fog suddenly trailed over to Groudon, encircling him until he was completely consumed. Groudon attempted to yell for help or even move, but the fog completely emptied his mind of all stress. All of a sudden, though, his head hurt to a crazy extent.

Everyone noticed this. "Groudon, what's wrong!?" Uxie asked worriedly. The fog then subsided, revealing Groudon being a slightly darker shade of red. When he opened his eyes, they were cyan instead of yellow.

He suddenly attempted to stomp the guild pokémon and Uxie, but they dove out of the way.

"No hard feelings," Groudon said in a monotone voice. "Just following orders."

* * *

**Midpoint**

Back with Carlos' group, who had felt tremors from where they were, they were being rushed by Carlos.

**Upper Steam Cave**

**9F** \- "Okay, new plan: we find the stairs quickly and avoid all battles!" he said as they reached the stairs to the ninth floor.

**10F** \- On the tenth floor, the team sprinted to the stairs on the other side of the room, narrowly avoiding a volbeat.

**11F** \- On the eleventh floor, the stairs were next to them. Carlos didn't even bother to take the pokè at the other side.

**12F** \- On the twelfth floor, a magmar blocked their way, so Carlos instantly hit it with a spark, running to the stairs in the other room, with the others close behind.

_"__I can't let Hazel die,"_ Carlos thought, _"no matter what."_

**13F** \- On the thirteenth floor, Carlos was thankful that the stairs were under Anubis.

**14F** \- On the fourteenth floor, it took a while to find the stairs, nearly giving Carlos a panic attack.

**15F** \- On the fifteenth floor, he ran to the stairs quickly, knowing very well that it was the last floor of the mystery dungeon.

* * *

Groudon, in his maniacal state, was able to knock out every pokémon, one by one, until Hazel was the last one standing. She was about to use her fire spin when Groudon used his claw to smash Hazel to the ground.

Hazel fell down in defeat. She slowly turned her head to look over at her friends, who were all battered and bruised up. They were definitely in no condition to fight. Hazel looked up at some kind of large figure. "Y-You'll never... get away... with this," she said weakly while coughing.

The figure smirked as it raised its foot right over her. "I already have." It then proceeded to stomp on Hazel repeatedly as she screamed in unbearable agony. Eventually it stopped and picked her up. "Any last words?" the figure asked as it began to clench its fist, constricting Hazel. She didn't move.

"Well, looks like you're worthless to me now," the figure said as it threw Hazel off the side of the mountain as she began to plummet to the ground.

Carlos and the others arrived just as this happened. "HAZEL!" Carlos shrieked in pure horror. Mesprit noticed this and was quick to use her psychic powers to stop Hazel's descent before she hit the ground hundreds of feet below. She then levitated her back up to the lake.

Carlos ran over to her and saw that she was unconscious. "Oh, thank goodness," he said. "It looks like she's still holding up."

"Blech!" Groudon exclaimed in disgust. "Romance is for the weak and vulnerable! Real legends strive for power!"

Carlos glared at the legendary. "And use it to attack innocent pokemon!? You don't deserve to be a legendary, 'cause you're nothing but a bully!"

Everyone stared at Carlos in shock. He wasn't the kind to outburst like that.

His outburst, however, only proved to provoke Groudon. "That's it! I will make you eat those words!" he shouted, grabbing a crystal red orb. Suddenly, Groudon began to get engulfed by a white light.

When it subsided, Groudon's gray areas were glowing with a golden magma-like color.

**"****Fear me, fool!"** Groudon shouted at Carlos, **"for I am PRIMAL GROUDON! Look, my text is even bolded to emphasize my power!"**

Carlos gulped in fear. _"I can't think of a single way that this ends well for me."_

_Of course it can end well for you!_

_"__These voices again," _Carlos thought.

_Yeah, who cares if he can transform? You can, too, Chosen One!_

_"__But I don't know how! It just happened out of the blue," _Carlos thought.

_Wrong. You were able to because your will was strong enough._

_Right. You have to want to put Primal Groudon to justice!_

_You got this, Chosen One!_

_"__Yeah. I can do it," _Carlos thought to himself as he began to concentrate. He did as the voices said: he focused on his will. He wanted to defeat Primal Groudon. He wanted to do it for Uxie, for his friends, for his team... and especially for Hazel.

All of a sudden, Carlos felt that familiar surge of energy. Everyone stared in awe as his fur gained its cyan color for all to see. His ears, eyes, wrists and tail tip also shimmered into a solid gold color.

_You can do it._

With his courage returned to him, Carlos glared up at Primal Groudon. "All right. Now it's on!"

**"****Bring it! You're still just a pipsqueak!"** Primal Groudon roared as he and Carlos ran at each other.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, looks like the special episode won't be next. It'll definitely be after the next chapter, though. By the way, this may or may not be spoilers, but something REALLY interesting happens in the next chapter. Look forward to it!**


	21. Chapter 19: Love is Born

**antic type,Author's Note: Hey, guys. I'm back after another short period of time. Get ready for an epic battle scene. Since its a major boss, which is what I call the boss battle that occurs right before a special episode and at the end of a story arc, it will be kind of a long battle, so get your popcorn... or at least some Skittles. This chapter is probably going to be one of the most dramatic moments of this whole fanfic. It's also what's going to trigger some kind of chain of events in the story. Enjoy!**

* * *

**MAJOR BOSS FIGHT #2: Primal Groudon**

**[_Sonic Adventure 2: Biolizard Battle_ music]**

Carlos began by sliding under Groudon's legs, getting behind him. "Cyan Slash!" Carlos shouted, jumping up and slashing Groudon's back with a cyan paw. Groudon retaliated by swatting Carlos into a rock wall.

Groudon then made a flexing motion with his arms, and a red aura surrounded him for a brief moment.

Ruby, Anubis, Vixi, Mesprit and Hazel, who was still unconscious, were currently watching the battle unfold from behind a rock.

"What did he just do?" Anubis asked as the red aura that surrounded Groudon for a brief moment subsided. "And what happened to him?" Ruby added, confused.

"Well, Ruby, to answer your question, Groudon isn't able to use his full power as he is. However, when he comes into contact with the Red Orb, which is the crystal rock that he picked up before transforming, he is able to tap into his full power, and transform into Primal Groudon," Mesprit replied.

"Okay, but what about MY question?" Anubis asked rather impatiently.

"Oh, yes," Mesprit said, "the move that Groudon just used is bulk up. It raises both his attack and defense, so Carlos may be in for a rough battle."

"Oh... I sure hope Carlos is going to be okay," Vixi said, worried that Carlos may suffer the same fate as Hazel.

"Yes, he is a very noble child," Mesprit added. As they kept looking, Carlos had just been clawed by Groudon.

Carlos quickly rolled out of the way before Groudon could punch him again. Fortunately, Groudon's arm got stuck into the wall. Then, Carlos jumped up onto Groudon's arm and shot a Plasma Bolt to his left eye. Groudon screamed in pain and hoisted his arm up, sending Carlos into the air.

**"Enough playing around,"** Groudon growled, **"this is the end of you!" **When Carlos was close to the ground, Groudon stomped on the ground, causing it to shake harshly, damaging Carlos even more.

Unfortunately, the earthquake attack had also affected the others, but Mesprit had levitated Hazel to prevent any damage from being dealt to her

After setting her down, Mesprit took a closer look at her. "Carlos appears to hold this vulpix in a high respect. What is her name?" Mesprit asked.

"Her name's Hazel," Anubis replied. "She and Carlos apparently share a really close friendship."

Mesprit nodded and kept looking at Hazel. "I do hope that she is okay," Mesprit said, concerned for her. Back in the battle, Carlos had fallen to the ground with a hard thud. Groudon approached and attempted to use another earthquake, but Carlos had used a Cyan Slash to cancel it. He then ran behind Groudon and zapped him with a Plasma Bolt.

**"Die, fool!"** Groudon shouted as he quickly attempted attacks on Carlos, but he kept on dodging.

Suddenly, Groudon shot a large wave of fire that covered the entire field, successfully damaging and even burning Carlos.

"This isn't good," Mesprit said with worry, "Groudon just used lava plume. It covers a large area and may even burn pokémon. It appears that Carlos has sustained one."

Groudon smirked. "Not so tough now, are ya?" he asked mockingly as he raised his right arm fiercely, causing spikes to materialize from under Carlos, landing severe damage as he was then grabbed and thrown into the side of a mountain.

"What on earth was THAT?" Anubis asked.

"Precipice Blades," Mesprit said, "that's Groudon's signature move."

Carlos got back up painfully. He managed to run at Groudon and use a Cyan Slash to damage him, but it didn't seem to hurt him that much. He ended up flicking Carlos away into the same mountain. **"Your idea of an attack is pathetic,"** Groudon taunted as he began to walk closer to him.

Carlos tried to get up again, but he couldn't. His burn was still active, and it was hurting. On top of that, he was sure that one of his bones may have broken. _"How am I gonna beat this guy now?" _Carlos wondered helplessly.

_Use your powers, Chosen One. Use them to heal your injuries._

_"What?" _Carlos wondered._ "But those only work for attacks."_

_They serve as more than just damage-dealers._

_Try it. Focus your body and mind into the power of healing._

Carlos decided to try it. As Groudon began to get closer to him, he emptied his mind of any stress and sat down straight, bringing his body and mind into perfect harmony. He then closed his eyes, and opened them with a flash of white.

"Gamma Heal!" he shouted. Suddenly, there was a comforting sensation flowing through him. When it was over, he noticed that the burn had disappeared and his leg felt as good as new again.

**"You have got to be kidding me!"** Groudon shouted in frustration. **"Don't you know when to die!?"**

"Yes. Yes I do," Carlos said, jumping as high as he could to hit Groudon in the face with a Cyan Slash, quickly following up with a Plasma Bolt, "but it won't be today!"

Ruby, Anubis and Vixi watched what Carlos did in complete awe. "How did he do that? At first, he looked completely helpless, but now he looks better than ever!" Ruby said.

"Gamma Heal. What he said must've been a healing spell that he was able to use because of that form of his," Mesprit said, also watching the battle in awe.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, the guild members had already recovered, and they were watching Carlos fight in astonishment.

"Eek! Carlos taking Groudon on all by himself!" Sunflora exclaimed.

"Hey, hey, is he crazy!?" Corphish shouted.

"Why is he glowing in those FREAKY colors?" Loudred wondered.

Wigglytuff just smiled at Chatot. "I told you he was special."

At this point, it hurt Groudon just to stand up. Carlos stared him dead in the eye. "Time to finish this," he said as his body gained a cyan outline that began to intensify until it began to pulse. "Neoblast!" he shouted as the outline transferred into a cyan beam that hit Groudon dead on.

Before Groudon fell, he looked at Carlos and laughed maniacally. **"Hahaha... hahaha... HAHAHAHAHA!"**

"What's your deal, man? I kicked your butt!" Carlos stated with a mix of confusion and anger.

**"Your resistance is pathetic,"** Groudon jeered. **"You are no Chosen One. No matter what you do, Her Highness will find you. And when she does, she will corrupt your mind. And your soul. You're just lucky that she didn't come here to deal with you herself."**

"What are you talking about, and who the heck is 'Her Highness'?" Carlos,asked, confused by Groudon's words. Then he thought of something. "Wait... you're talking about Sharese, aren't you!?"

That only made Groudon laugh. **"Sharese!? Wow, you don't even know about Her Highness! She is your master, and you are her slave. Mark my words, you WILL bend to her... will." **Groudon then chuckled. **"See what I did there?"**

"Oh, shut up!" Carlos shouted, hitting Groudon with a Cyan Slash, causing him to fall to the ground and drop the Red Orb, reverting back to his normal form. Suddenly, a cloud of black smoke escaped Groudon's chest area. It flew away, passing Carlos. As the cloud briefly came into contact with him, he felt some kind of dark power emanate for a split second.

Carlos looked at where the dark cloud went. _"What was that?"_ he wondered.

Carlos then refocused on the fact that he had defeated Groudon. He did it. Not only had he defeated a lake guardian, but he had also defeated a primal pokémon. All in one day.

Everyone suddenly ran over to Carlos, cheering. "You did it!" Ruby said. "Nice job, yup," Bidoof added. "Yeah, that was awesome!" Anubis said.

"Thanks," Carlos said. He couldn't see his team, though. "Where are Dusty, Katty and Darkfang?"

"Oh, they were watching the battle with us, and when we went over here to congratulate you, they said that they were going to check on Uxie," Chatot said. "Let's go to the lake." With that said, everyone went to the lake, with Mesprit carrying Hazel, who was still unconscious.

* * *

Uxie woke up with his head in pain. "Oww... what happened?" he groaned. He saw Dusty, Katty and Darkfang standing in front of him.

"Groudon knocked all of us out and transformed into Primal Groudon," Darkfang explained. Uxie's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, no. Did he kill anyone?" he asked worriedly. Dusty shook his head. "Carlos was able to defeat him."

Uxie gasped. _"How is he strong enough to do that? Who is this child?"_

All of a sudden, everyone else entered the lake area. Uxie saw that Carlos was colored oddly. He floated over to him. "You must be Carlos."

"And you must be Uxie," Carlos said, bowing. "It's great to finally meet you."

"The feeling is mutual," Uxie replied. He then noticed Mesprit. "It is nice to see you as well, Mesprit."

"Good to see you again, Uxie," Mesprit told him. Uxie then noticed Hazel. "Did the vulpix get hurt?" he asked, Mesprit nodded. "I was hoping that you could take a look at her and see what you can do."

Uxie nodded and Mesprit put Hazel on the ground gently. Uxie put his hand on Hazel's heart and closed his eyes to examine the problem. When he opened them, he gasped.

"What? What's wrong?" Katty asked.

"Apparently she was stomped on by Groudon repeatedly. Most of her bones were smashed to bits," Uxie said, looking down as a single tear escaped from his eye. "I... I'm sorry, but... I don't think this vulpix will be waking up any time soon."

Everyone gasped in horror at what happened. Some of them started crying and others were making death threats to Groudon.

Carlos, however, just walked over to Hazel.

Dusty noticed this. "Carlos, what are you-" He was interrupted by Katty, who put her paw forward to silence him. "Don't worry. I think he knows what he's doing," she said.

Carlos, who had grabbed everyone's attention, slowly picked up Hazel's head with his front paws, and he looked at her unconscious form. He sighed. _"Please let this work,"_ he thought as he leaned over and placed his right paw on Hazel's heart. Everyone watched silently, confused as to what he was doing.

"Gamma Heal," he said softly as his paw glowed white and transferred some sort of energy to Hazel. After a few more seconds, Hazel glowed white briefly. Then, all the white disappeared in an instant.

Carlos, who still had Hazel on his front paws, watched for any signs of movement.

But there weren't any.

Everyone looked down in depression. Carlos was about to leave, when he felt her stirring in his paws. He looked at her as her movements became slower.

Then she slowly opened her eyes.

Everyone murmured with excitement, smiling. Carlos was somehow able to heal Hazel.

The first thing that Hazel saw was Carlos. "C-Carlos? What h-happened?" she asked. Carlos gave her a quick hug. "Hazel, you're okay!"

Hazel looked confused and slowly broke the hug. "The last thing I remember is Groudon throwing me off of the lake."

"You must have passed out," Uxie said. "You see, when Groudon stomped on you, he managed to break almost every bone in your body."

"What!? How could I have possibly survived?" Hazel asked in disbelief.

"Well, you were barely clinging onto life. Carlos was able to save you, though," Uxie explained. "He's right," Mesprit said, "he used a move called Gamma Heal. It helped with your injuries, and your bones should be fine now."

"But what about Groudon? What if he comes back?" Hazel asked worriedly.

"That's the best part!" Anubis gushed in glee. "After he saw Groudon try to kill you, Carlos went through some kind of transformation and defeated him all by himself!" After he finished talking, Carlos' cyan gleam disappeared and he was back to having a yellow shine in his fur.

Hazel looked at Carlos with tears in her eyes. "You did all of that... just for me?"

"Of course. I wasn't going to let him get away with hitting you," Carlos said thoughtfully. He then realized that he was still holding Hazel in a sort of romantic way. "Uh... let me help you up." Carlos was about to pick Hazel up off the ground, but she stopped him. "Wait."

Carlos kept holding her in confusion. "... What is it?"

"Before you pick me up," Hazel said, staring at Carlos, "there's... something that I want to do."

Carlos stared back at Hazel. "Um... what exactly would that be?" he asked nervously.

Hazel then wrapped her two front paws around Carlos' neck. "This," she said as she pulled Carlos down and locked lips with him, closing her eyes as she savor end the kiss. Carlos was a bit surprised by Hazel's sudden action, but once it processed into his brain, he let his heart take control and kissed Hazel back passionately. He didn't know why Hazel did this, but he knew one thing: he didn't want it to end.

Everyone else watched the touching moment occurring before them. The guild members all clapped silently, Chatot and Wigglytuff smiled happily, Uxie nodded in approval, and 'aw'a came from Team Destiny. Even Darkfang had a genuine smile.

Uxie then noticed Mesprit smiling. He facepalmed and led her to a corner, crossing his arms. "Is there anything that you'd like to tell me, Being of _Emotion_?" Uxie asked rhetorically.

Mesprit smiled sheepishly. "I may have given Hazel a... 'small' push."

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Carlos and Hazel broke the kiss. Carlos then looked at everyone else in the room.

Thankfully, Uxie, being the Being of Knowledge, got the hint. "Umm... everyone, let's go outside. I think that Carlos and Hazel need a moment alone," he said.

"Wait, but didn't you say that you had something to say to Carlos?" Chatot asked.

"Don't worry about it," Uxie said, "it's only about 4:37. We can talk later." With that said, he left with everyone but Carlos and Hazel in tow.

Carlos and Hazel walked over to the edge of the lake, where they could see the lake shimmering. Groups of volbeat and illumise floated throughout the lake, their taillights giving the lake multiple colors. At the other side of the lake, there was some kind of green object that gave off a green glow that spread throughout the entire lake.

"Wow... I never noticed how beautiful this lake was," Hazel said, looking at the lake's many colors and leaning her head on Carlos' head, "but now that I've seen it up close, it's the most beautiful sight that I've ever seen in my entire life."

Carlos put his arm around Hazel. "I could say the same thing about you," he said as they briefly blushed.

"So... does this mean... that we're in a... relationship?" Hazel asked.

Carlos thought for a moment. "Well... it's a serious decision, and I think that we should think about it before we do anything serious," he said.

Hazel nodded. "I understand. For now, I'm just glad we're friends," she said.

"You two are definitely the best friends I've ever seen," Uxie said as he floated back into the cave.

"So, Chatot said that you had to talk to me about something?" Carlos asked the lake guardian.

"Yes. It regards your destiny," Uxie told him.

"Is it okay if Hazel stays to hear?" Carlos asked, not wanting her to not know anything about him.

"Very well," Uxie said.

Carlos and Hazel sat down. "So, let's hear it," Carlos said.

"Well..." Uxie said sheepishly, "I wasn't exactly told what to say, so just ask me some questions, and I'll see if I can answer them."

* * *

**Author's Note: Ooooooh, romance. I am not exactly the romantic type, so please do not flame me for that little scene. Anyways, this concludes the _Expedition_ story arc, and you know what that means: time for another special episode. Now, this special episode may be split into two parts. I could make it into one, but I always give myself the strict policy of never typing chapters that are 6000+ words. So far, the longest chapter that I've written is Chapter 16: Return of the Illusionist, which is 4142 words. But that's not exactly important right now. Like I was saying, the special episode may be cut into two parts - maybe even three, who knows? All I know is that this special episode will be way better than the first one. Until then!**


	22. Special Ep 2: The Nightmare Stone

**Author's Note**

**PlasmaShinx77: *stares off into space, smiling***

**Carlos: Hey, snap out of it already!**

**PlasmaShinx77: *stares off into space, smiling***

**Ruby: Um... What's the matter with PlasmaShinx77?**

**PlasmaShinx77: *stares off into space, smiling***

**Carlos: *sighs* He's been like this ever since Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon was announced.**

**Ruby: Well, who could blame him? It sounds like a wonderful game.**

**Carlos: Too bad you can't start as a shinx...**

**PlasmaShinx77: *stares off into space, smiling***

**Darkfang: All right, I've had enough of this! *bites PlasmaShinx77***

**PlasmaShinx77: Gah! What's going on!?**

**Darkfang: START THE INTRO, YOU IDIOT!**

**PlasmaShinx77: Welcome back, everyone! Time for another special episode!**

**Carlos: Good. It's about time that I was able to talk in the Author's Notes. It's also about time that you focused on THIS mystery dungeon storyline.**

**Darkfang: Well, at least we agree on something, kid.**

**PlasmaShinx77: ... Whatever. Anyways, to get some news on the way, I'd like to let you all know, you should go on my profile page, because I've set up a poll for you guys. It talks about what fanfic I should do after I finish up my Spyro fanfic.**

**Anubis: Ha! I'm surprised that you even remember that fanfic.**

**PlasmaShinx77: What's that supposed to mean!?**

**Anubis: You haven't even touched that story.**

**PlasmaShinx77: I have too!**

**Ruby: Sweetie, no offense, but... it's been almost 2 months since you last updated that story.**

**PlasmaShinx77: ANYWAYS, like I was saying, my poll has four choices for fanfics: a Paper Mario crossover, a Hybrid Mystery Dungeon adventure, a Sonic the Hedgehog fanfic, or the ultimate crossover. You can pick up to two choices, and don't forget: the poll ends on June 22. I may change it to June 25, but who knows? All I know is that I need to start it on June 25 to upload it on the next day. Also... it says that I updated this story two days ago, but that was a mistake. I decided that all special episodes are going to be in only one part, no matter how long, which is why I deleted the first part. I'm sorry, it'll never happen again. So, to make up for it, here's a super-long special episode.**

**Vixi: Um... I don't want to sound rude, but can we please begin the episode?**

**PlasmaShinx77: Oh, right! *smiles sheepishly* Let the story begin!**

* * *

In an abandoned temple, a figure is seen dodging the many tranquilizer darts that have been activated as ancient traps.

Wow. You'd think that ancient temples would have more dangerous traps," the figure said. Right at that moment, a giant axe swooped over their head, but the figure barely dodged it.

After a few more close calls, the figure arrived in a large, open chamber. The chamber mostly consisted of an old brick material. At the end, there was some sort of pedestal that held a very dark looking stone.

The figure stepped into light, revealing it to be Evan. He smiled, slowly approaching the pedestal until he was in front of the stone.

He was about to take the stone, but then hesitated. _"This might be a trap,"_ he thought. So, he reached into a satchel that he had and pulled out a bucket. Then, slowly, he picked up the dark stone and quickly put the bucket in its place. Nothing happened.

Evan sighed in relief, putting the dark stone in his satchel. _"Ha! So much for overprotection,"_ he thought.

Suddenly, he heard a clicking noise come from somewhere. Reluctantly, he looked back to see that a giant boulder had emerged from the ceiling and was rolling straight for him.

"Oh, come on! This is SO cliché!" Evan screamed as he began to run away from the boulder, which was gaining on him.

After about thirty seconds of running, Evan was beginning to grow tired, when he noticed a wide chasm up ahead. He internally groaned, but then an idea struck him when he noticed a metal bar over the chasm. Right before he reached the chasm, Evan pulled out a miniature bucket. Then, just as he reached the chasm, Evan jumped and held the bucket over his head, riding the metal bar like a zip line as the boulder fell in.

Evan then exited the temple triumphantly. Instantly, he heard his communicator buzzing and picked it up.

"Hello, Evan," a voice said over the communicator. "Did you get it?"

Evan smirked, taking the dark object from his satchel and holding it up. "Yes, master. The Nightmare Stone is officially in my grasp."

"Good. Then you know what to do?" the voice asked.

"Of course," Evan said, looking into the distance. "Next stop: the Wigglytuff Guild."

* * *

Meanwhile in Treasure Town, the members of Team Destiny were taking a nice stroll.

"Ahh... I just love that October breeze," Carlos said, closing his eyes as the breeze blew his fur lightly.

Darkfang rolled his eyes. "Isn't there anything that you hate?" he asked annoyedly.

"Of course. I hate you, bullies, you, cabbage, you, broccoli, you, rootavegas, you, traitors, you, you, girls who date multiple guys, you, slow updates, and oh- did I already say you?" Carlos said mockingly, causing Darkfang to roll his eyes again.

"Oh, come on! I am not letting your petty squabble ruin a good day!" Ruby said.

"Yeah, guys. October's already over," Dusty added, "so let's enjoy the last day."

This got Carlos' attention. "Wait, so it's October 31? Let's celebrate Halloween!" Everyone looked confused as to what Carlos was talking about. "Um... Carlos, what's Halloween?" Vixi asked.

Carlos gasped. "What? You guys have never heard of Halloween!?" They all shook their heads.

"Halloween is a time where people dress up and get candy from people," Carlos explained.

"AWESOME!" Anubis exclaimed. "We should tell the guildmaster!"

"No! Don't encourage him!" Darkfang yelled as Carlos ran towards the guild, eager to tell Wigglytuff about his idea.

* * *

After Carlos had explained the concept of Halloween to Wigglytuff, he lit up in excitement. "Wow, that sounds like a great idea, Carlos!" Wigglytuff then went to the guild's main room and used a hyper voice.

"Attention, everyone!" Wigglytuff said, getting everybody's attention. "In a short while, we will be celebrating a foreign tradition, where we dress up at night and ask others for candy."

The guild members seemed to like this idea.

"Well, technically we are in costume," Carlos pointed out, "but we're all going to need some rest, so we should go to sleep early and wake up at night."

Everyone agreed to Carlos' idea and went to their respective rooms, eagerly awaiting the new tradition. Team Destiny went to their own room in preparation as well.

* * *

"Alright, so what do we do in the meantime?" Carlos asked aloud, once the whole team was in their room.

"I don't know... maybe we could make random remarks in order to keep this special episode at a comedic extent?" Katty suggested.

Carlos sighed. "Katty... how many times do I have to tell you... don't break the fourth wall. That's my thing," he told her.

"'Sup, losers?" Evan greeted, having jumped through the open window and getting in a battle stance.

The rest of the team, shocked that Evan had appeared, got into battle stances as well. Then Carlos remembered something. "Wait! Evan, I need a favor," Carlos said. Evan looked confused, but nodded anyway. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can we borrow some of your buckets?" Carlos asked.

He barely dodged a shadow ball thrown by an angry Evan.

"I KNEW IT!" he shouted. "How dare you try to use MY bukkits!?"

"Uh... once again, it's 'buckets'," Carlos said nervously.

"SHUT UP!" Evan yelled as he suddenly threw a stone at the ground in front of Carlos. He looked at Evan, amused. "Try better aim next-" he didn't get to finish as eight small turrets of dark smoke shot out of the stone and each went into one of the members of Team Destiny. Soon, they all fell to the ground, asleep.

Evan walked over to pick the stone up. He looked at the fallen team and smirked. "Sweet dreams... or should I say 'horrid nightmares'!" he cackled as he turned to jump back out the window...

... which had already closed on its own.

"Ow..." Evan said, rubbing a bump on his head and opening the window, deciding to climb out this time.

* * *

Carlos found himself floating. But he wasn't in a void. Everywhere he looked, all he saw was darkness.

Suddenly, a pair of dark red eyes stares right at Carlos, who began to hyperventilate at that point. He didn't know why, but just the sight of those piercing eyes

"W-Who's there?" he asked nervously. "W-Who a-are y-you!?"

A laugh echoed throughout the darkness. "Who am I? Who am I!? FOOL! I AM YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" the voice shouted.

Carlos gasped. "Broccoli?"

The voice stopped laughing. "What!? NO! The OTHER worst nightmare, idiot!"

"... Oops," Carlos said sheepishly. The last thing he saw before falling unconscious was the pair of eyes growing a mouth, consuming him.

* * *

Carlos woke up a few minutes later, although his vision was a little blurry. He then got up and looked around, seeing the other members of Team Destiny.

After a few seconds, they all woke up with a start. They all appeared to be frightened by something.

"Oh... my... goodness," Hazel said, shaking in fear, "I just saw the scariest thing. There were these scary, red eyes that said they were my 'worst nightmare'."

"I had that same vision!" Carlos said.

"Same here," Darkfang said.

"So did I!" Katty added.

"Okay, what is going on!?" Anubis demanded, confused at the predicament.

"Why, you're in the Nightmare Realm, of course," a voice said from somewhere. Everyone looked around to try to locate the source of the voice. "Who's there!? Show yourself!" Carlos demanded.

"Relax, it's only me." Suddenly, a portal appeared on the ground and a small cream and scarlet-colored pokemon flew out and landed on the ground in front of the eight heroes.

"Greetings, heroes... and Darkfang," the small pokémon said. Darkfang growled. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean!?"

The small pokemon frowned on a guilty way. "Forgive me, Darkfang. That was uncalled for."

Darkfang shrugged. "Meh, I don't blame you. Wait, who ARE you, anyway?"

"Oh! Uh... uh, I-I-I'm... uhhh... oh! Initciv!" the pokémon said quickly. The rest of the group just facepalmed.

"Victini," Carlos said, emotionless, "just stop."

Victini froze upon hearing his name. "How did you know it was me?" he asked.

"Oh, I had a talk with your good friend Ibelec," Carlos replied sarcastically. Then he became serious. "So, what do you mean by 'Nightmare Realm'?"

"Well, do you remember Evan the zoroark hurling some kind of stone at you all?" Victini asked.

"Yeah," Carlos said, remembering exactly what had occurred, "it fell on the ground and released purple smoke that went inside of us." Victini nodded. "Yes. That rock is an ancient artifact known as the Nightmare Stone, and that smoke was Nightmare Dust, which is the opposite of Dream Mist that is produced by munna."

"So, what are you trying to say, Victini?" Dusty asked.

"Since this is the Nightmare Realm, two of you will traverse through a nightmare. If you are able to complete all four of them, then munna will emerge, allowing you to be sprayed with Dream Mist," Victini explained.

"And that will get us out of here?" Hazel asked. Victini nodded.

"So... how do we enter these nightmares?" Carlos asked.

"Well, that's why I'm here. First, I need to concentrate on searching each of your minds for your biggest fears," Victini said, "and then I need to combine two of them to create four nightmares. Now, everyone choose a partner to go into a dream with."

With that said, Victini went to the side, continuously spinning some kind of wheel.

"Hazel, do you want to go together?" Carlos asked. Hazel smiled. "Yes, that would be nice. Thank you."

"I'll go with Katty," Dusty said, holding Katty's paw.

"I'm going with Vixi," Anubis added, smiling at Vixi, who smiled back.

"Guess that leaves me with Ruby," Darkfang said.

"I'm fine with that," Ruby said. Soon, Victini returned.

"Okay, listen very carefully, because I'll only say it once," Victini said. "Carlos and Hazel are going into a nightmare combined by Darkfang and Hazel's fears. Dusty and Katty are going into Dusty and Anubis' nightmares. Anubis and Vixi are going into Katty and Ruby's nightmares. Lastly, Darkfang and Ruby are going into Carlos and Vixi's nightmares."

Carlos couldn't help but snicker. This did not go unnoticed by Darkfang. "What are you laughing about!?" he demanded.

"Just the fact that you're gonna get what's coming to you," Carlos replied gleefully.

"Before you guys can go, I need to give you these," Victini said, giving odd devices to each of them.

"What are these things?" Dusty asked, looking at the device in wonder.

"Put them on your wrists. They're communicators. Just press the blue button, and you guys can talk to each other." Soon, everyone was able to figure out how the devices worked.

Victini then hurled a few orbs on the ground, creating four dark portals. "Okay, you guys can go through now."

"All right, Dusty. Let's do this," Katty said as they walked throught their portal.

"I'm scared," Vixi said. Anubis pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry," he said, "I'll be right here to protect you." With that, they entered their own portal.

Carlos and Hazel then went into their own portal. Just before going in, Carlos said something to Darkfang, but he couldn't hear over the noise of the portal.

"Hey, what did Carlos say?" Darkfang asked Ruby as they began to walk towards the last portal.

Ruby looked at him. "I'm pretty sure he said 'Say hi to the animatronics for me!' or something like that."

* * *

When Carlos and Hazel stepped out of their portal, they looked around and found themselves in a building of some sort. There was a large open space in the shape of a rectangle in front of them, and there were large poles with dangling nets on the opposite sides. Behind them, there were stacked logs that resembled wide stairs.

"Whoa... what is this place?" Hazel asked in wonder.

"If I'm not mistaken... I'm pretty sure that we're on a basketball court," Carlos told her.

"What's basketball?" Hazel asked, not understanding how it was a nightmare. "Basketball is a popular sport in the human world that professionals play in front of millions of people.

"M-M-Millions!?" Hazel asked in a super-nervous way.

"Yeah, but I don't see how this is a nightmare," Carlos said. Suddenly, a pelliper flew into the court and handed a letter to Carlos, leaving quickly before any follow-up questions could be asked.

"Well, that was weird..." Carlos remarked, opening the letter and reading what was inside. "Okay... so, this letter tells us what to do," Carlos told Hazel, showing her the paper.

"So, a famous basketball team needs to win a championship match, and if they lose, this whole town gets demolished!?" Hazel read in disbelief.

Carlos looked out of the window, at the town filled with happy pokémon roaming around in tranquility. "We can't let the team lose this game," he stated. He continued looking at the letter. "Hey, Hazel. It talks about an openings in the cheerleading squad. You should join."

"What are cheerleaders?" Hazel asked Carlos.

"They're a group of people who cheer athletes on with inspiring and catchy rhymes while doing acrobatic stunts," Carlos explained.

"So, what you're saying is that you should help in the championship game while I cheer you on as a cheerleader?" Hazel questioned.

"Of course. As a cheerleader, you'll become a peppier person, you'll develop some acrobatic skills," Carlos said, _"and you'll look even more beautiful than you already are,"_ he added in his thoughts, blushing lightly.

"Ah, you must be the new recruits!" a kirlia said, walking toward them. "Everyone, come meet the new pokémon!" Soon, Carlos and Hazel were surrounded by four other pokémon.

"Nice to meet the both of you," the kirlia said, shaking both of their paws. "These girls are all members of the sophomore cheerleading squad. I'm Kirlia, the head of the squad."

Carlos and Hazel both looked confused. "Hold on. So you know about our little predicament?" Hazel asked.

Of course we do," a buneary from the squad said to her, "and it's too bad that you guys won't stick around. You both look like great pokémon."

"Oh, let me introduce you both to each of the squad members," Kirlia said. "Meet Buneary, Snivy, Purrloin, and Meowstic." The squad members all greeted the two pokémon.

**(PS77: For your sake, I hope you know these pokémons' species.)**

"Nice to meet you all. I'm carlos, and this is Hazel," Carlos greeted back. "So, is there an official basketball team or something?"

"Of course! The Feisty Flygons!" Meowstic said, pointing to a flag that had the outline of a flygon.

Carlos smiled. _"How could this even be considered a nightmare?"_ he thought incredulously. "So, when do I meet up with the team?" The cheerleaders looked at him confusedly. "What are you talking about? You're not on the team," Snivy told him.

Now Carlos looked confused. "So I have to try out first?"

"Um... I don't think he gets it," Snivy told the other cheerleaders. Kirlia nodded and looked at Carlos. "Carlos, what we mean is... you're a cheerleader."

"... What."

* * *

Dusty and Katty had emerged in some sort of futuristic area.

"This... is weird," Dusty stated bluntly.

"Yeah, I mean, what are we even supposed to-" Katty was suddenly sucked into some black hole that had materialized from under her. Dusty saw this and tried to grab her paw, but by then it was too late.

"Katty! No!" Dusty said, looking at the ground where she was standing just a moment ago. _"This must be the nightmare part."_

"Come on, she's this way!" a voice said. Dusty turned around and saw a pawniard and a piloswine.

"'Sup? Name's Han. Han Solo. Big guy over here's Chewbacca," the pawniard, Han, said.

"I'm Dusty," Dusty said to the odd duo, "and you said you knew where Katty was. Can you take me to her?"

"Sure thing. These serve as more than blades, ya know," Han said, holding out one of his blades, which somehow shot out some red lasers. "And, uh, you can use that laser sword on your belt. Oh, and this is for you!" Han then gave Dusty an envelope. He opened it and read it.

"Ah, so my mission is to save Katty from some evil guy?" Dusty read.

"Easier said than done," Han remarked, "now follow me." He then proceeded to lead Dusty and Chewbacca down a corridor.

Dusty then felt around his waist area and felt some skinny tube. He looked at it. It looked like a very futuristic piece of metal, but then he noticed a button. When he pressed it, a green laser came out of the top of the tube in a flash.

Dusty stared in awe as he swung it around. "Awesome..."

* * *

Anubis and Vixi appeared in a field, with distinguishable forest features, along with a few rivers.

"Wow..." Vixi said in awe of the scenery, "this place is so beautiful."

"Yeah, it is," Anubis agreed, gazing lovingly at Vixi. "How can this possibly be a nightmare?" Vixi returned the gaze with just as much love.

"Watch out, brother!" a voice shouted. Anubis turned around and saw a Lucario running towards them at a fast pace. The lucario then charged up an aura sphere in his hands and threw it at Vixi, who was blasted back by the blast.

"Vixi!" Anubis cried in horror. The lucario then picked Anubis up. "Brother, are you alright? That horrible zorua didn't do anything to you, did she?"

"What? Why would she hurt me if she likes me?" Anubis asked, confused by the predicament. The lucario gasped silently. "No... it may be too late. Come with me," he said, carrying Anubis back the way he came.

Vixi tried to stand up, or at least sit down, but she was in too much pain. A zoroark then emerged from the bushes. She walked over to Vixi and picked her up.

Vixi stared at the zoroark. "Who... are... you?" Vixi asked just before passing out.

The zoroark held her close. "Dear sister... let's get you some help," she said, running into the forest with Vixi in her arms.

* * *

Darkfang and Ruby emerged in a street, where it was apparently nighttime.

Darkfang smirked. "Seriously? THIS is Carlos' idea of a nightmare!? Ha!"

Ruby only groaned at his antics. Suddenly, a piece of paper came by, carried with the wind. It then landed right in front of Ruby, who picked it up.

"What's it say?" Darkfang asked.

Ruby finished reading what was on the paper and looked back at Darkfang. "It says what we're supposed to do in the nightmare. Apparently, some new store needs to hire a few guards for the night before the grand opening."

"Huh. Sounds easy enough. So, where's the store at?" Darkfang asked. Ruby pointed to a restaurant in front of them that had flickering lights.

When they entered, they were greeted by a well-dressed quagsire. "Oh, you must be the new night guards! I am the owner of this place, Quagsire!" Quagsire said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Darkfang said.

"So, what is this place, anyway?" Ruby asked Quagsire.

"My friend, I'm glad you asked! Welcome to Teddy Fuzzbear's Pizza!" Quagsire said happily. He then motioned to the front of the area, where there was a stage. On the stage, there were three robotic-looking pokémon: a dark-brown teddiursa with a small, black top hat, a purple Buneary with a banjo, and a yellow torchic wearin an apron with the words 'Let's Eat!' on them.

"Uh..." Darkfang and Ruby said awkwardly.

"These are the pizzeria's animatronic mascots. Their names are Teddy Fuzzbear, Bonneary, and Torchica," Quagsire said. He then gave Darkfang a piece of paper. "Your room is in the middle. Your shifts last from twelve to six. I'll be in my office if you need me." Quagsire then left.

"Well, let's get to our room," Ruby said.

"Nah, you can go," Darkfang offered. "I'll stay here to patrol the different rooms."

"Sure, but be careful," Ruby said, walking into her office. Darkfang then sat down and closed his eyes to think. "Now, where to start..." he wondered.

"How about I start by putting your lights out!?" a voice said from behind Darkfang. The last thing he saw before fainting was someone swinging a metal bat at his head.

* * *

"I look ridiculous."

Carlos emerged from the bathroom, wearing a red and white cheerleader skirt with a flygon symbol on the front. He had two pom poms on each of his fore paws.

Kirlia and the other cheerleaders rubbed the back of their heads sheepishly. "Sorry, Carlos... but we only had girls' outfits left," Kirlia told him.

"Well, it could be worse, I guess," Carlos muttered.

"So, what's our strategy?" Purrloin asked.

"Well, I think we should see if the newbies are athletic enough," Meowstic said, facing Carlos and Hazel. "So, what do you guys have?"

"Well, we can do this," Carlos said, nodding at Hazel, who nodded back. They then linked their arms and jumped into the air. As soon as they reached the ground, they jumped again, curling up so that they formed a spinning ball.

When they landed, the cheerleaders applauded. "Guys, that was amazing!" Buneary squealed in excitement.

"Yeah, where did you learn that!?" Snivy asked in awe.

Carlos and Hazel blushed from all the praise. "Oh, it's just a battle combo that Carlos taught me," Hazel said.

"Guys... I think we can win if we do an amazing routine that I just came up with!" Kirlia said, motioning for everyone to huddle, as they discussed the plan.

* * *

Dusty was having a hard time keeping up with Han and Chewbacca. "Are we there yet?" Dusty asked.

"Yeah, we're here," Han said, motioning to a door. "Stand back. This could take a minute or two." He then began to repeatedly shoot the door with his blaster blades.

Dusty decided to take this time to talk with Carlos, so he turned on his communicator.

Soon, Carlos picked up the other end. "Dusty, what do you want? I was in the middle of a routine!" his voice said through the communicator.

"Sorry, but I'm a little shaken up. My nightmare involves Katty getting abducted in a ship," Dusty told him. "And what do you mean by 'routine'?"

"Well, the nightmare that I'm in involves me and Hazel joining a cheerleading squad," Carlos replied.

"Whoa, that IS a nightmare," Dusty said. "Not really," Carlos told him. Dusty looked surprised. "You mean to tell me that you're not scared or miserable?"

Carlos scoffed. "Wow, I'm the only male in a squad full of hot, 16 year-old cheerleaders... yeah, that's some nightmare," he said sarcastically.

"I thought Hazel was 14..." Dusty corrected.

"Well, you get the idea," Carlos said.

"Yeah..." Dusty said. Then he smirked. "So, do you think Hazel looks hot as a cheerleader?"

Carlos blushed wildly, although Dusty couldn't see it. "Bye!" he said hastily befor hanging up. He turned back to Han and Chewbacca, who had just opened the door. Katty was on the other side.

"Katty!" Dusty exclaimed as they ran towards each other and embraced in a hug.

Pawniard was tapping his foot impatiently while crossing his arms. "I'd hate to break such a touching moment, but we need to get out of this ship before-"

"Before what?" a voice said from behind. Everyone turned behind them and saw a mightyena wearing a metal black suit with a black cape.

"Uh... Is that Darkfang?" Katty asked. She could practically feel the evil emanating from the mightyena, who had a confused look. "What? Who on Naboo is Darkfang? I... am Darthfang!"

Dusty facepalmed. _"You have GOT to be kidding me."_

* * *

Meanwhile, Vixi had just woken up and was talking to an older zorua and the Zoroark that had saved her.

"So, what's the big deal between Lucario and zoroark?" Vixi asked with curiosity.

"Well, we have been split into the Lucario and Zoroark tribes for as long as we can remember," Zoroark said. "You see, the tribe leaders actually used to be mates. They used to live in perfect harmony with each other, and they even had kids."

"Were you one of them?" Vixi asked.

Zoroark nodded before continuing. "The other one is the lucario that took Anubis with him. Anyways, they eventually grew angry at each other. The zoroark got angry at the lucario because he had a strong passion for training and barely ever carved out time to spend with her. The lucario, however, grew angry at our leader because he claimed to have seen her say yes to a weavile that was apparently proposing to her."

"Oh, that's horrible," Vixi said.

"Yes, but we know that our leader was right," Zorua said. Soon, another zorua came in holding a scroll.

"Oh! Is there a problem, messenger?" Zoroark asked.

"Yes. The riolu that Lucario took - I believe his name was Anubis - said that we zoroark and zorua aren't bad at all," the messenger replied.

"Aww, that's so nice," Zorua gushed.

The messenger shook her head. "No, it isn't. Now the Lucario tribe has him tied up, and they're going to dump him in in boiling waters."

"What!?" Vixi shouted. She turned to Zoroark. "we have to go there and help him, now!"

Zoroark shook her head. "I'm sorry, Vixi, but it's not safe. What if you get-"

"I don't care what happens to me! I just want to help Anubis! He means everything to me!" Vixi shouted angrily, looking at Zoroark with tears in her eyes. "... please... don't do this to me..."

Seeing the helpless zorua was all it took to convince Zoroark. "You know what, you're right! Let's go rescue your friend!"

* * *

**_12:00 AM (Power: 97%)_**

"What the heck IS this thing?" Ruby asked herself, pawing at a telephone, which had suddenly began ringing, much to her shock.

_"Hello? Hello, hello? Well, if you're hearing this-"_

"BORING!" Ruby said, mashing the buttons and shutting the phone off. She then heard her communicator beep, so she pressed the blue button.

"Hi, Ruby! How're you doing?" Vixi asked from the other end of the line.

"Nothing much," Ruby said, looking around her office. "Man, these nightmares are boring, aren't they? I have to be a night guard."

"I have to form a rebellion of my kind in order to slaughter another tribe to extinction in order to save Anubis," Vixi said cheerfully.

"... Okay, bye," Ruby said. She spun around on her chair with wheels. "I'm soooo bored."

**_1:00 AM (Power: 71%)_**

Ruby was now surfing through the different security cameras when she saw Teddy, Bonneary and Torchica sleeping in their usual stage spots.

"Wow, they look pretty peaceful," Ruby remarked, when suddenly, something struck her mind as she kept looking through all of the camera angles.

Where was Darkfang?

**_2:00 AM (Power: 54%)_**

Ruby was now officially worried. No matter how often she surfed the cameras, there was no sign of Darkfang.

"Ugh... what did that idiot do now?" Ruby groaned to herself. Suddenly, she turned around and felt a presence next to her.

When she turned on the light to the left door, she saw Bonneary standing right there. "'Sup?" Bunnie greeted the wide-eyed glameow.

"HOLY BLAST SEED!" Ruby screamed, pressing a red button to sit the door. _"Dear Arceus. What was THAT all about?"_ She wondered, backing up to the window on the other side of the room. The lights then turned on, coaxing Ruby to turn around and see Torchica staring right at her.

"OH MY ARCEUS!" she screamed, closing that door as well.

**_3:00 AM (Power: 18%)_**

She looked at both sides, but Bonneary and Torchica wouldn't budge. Soon, she noticed Teddy and a brown fennekin dressed as a pirate.

"Okay, who are YOU?" Ruby asked.

"I'm Foxie!" the fennekin said. Ruby was scared. She didn't know what to do. One thing was for sure, she wasn't going to deactivate the doors or lights.

Teddy tapped on the window. "Please... we don't mean you any harm... just open the door so we can talk in the main room."

Ruby shook her head. "H-How can I t-trust you!?"

"Just trust us old blokes, lassie," Foxie said.

Ruby closed her eyes for a few minutes. Then, she sighed before opening both doors, letting the animatronics in.

"If it makes you feel any better," Bonneary said, "you would've run out of power anyway."

**_4:00 AM (Power: -7%)_**

"See?" Bonneary said as they all sat in the storage closet. "Your power's already in the negative zone."

"Oh great. So Carlos and Katty AREN'T the only ones who can break the fourth wall," Ruby thought.

"Right..." Teddy started, "anyways, I just want to say that we're not who you think we are."

"Teddy' right," Torchica said, "we try to get into people to warn them... but... but they think that we're evil... and they called me a... a... a b-boy!" Torchica then began crying while Foxie consoled her.

"Wait, warn us about who?" Ruby asked.

"The same one who took your poochyena boyfriend. He is-" Teddy began, but was interrupted by a crashing sound.

"What be that, lassies!?" Foxie exclaimed.

"BOYFRIEND!?" Ruby thought in disgust.

"Shh!" Bonneary shushed. "He's coming..."

**_5:00 AM (Power: -3486%)_**

Suddenly, a figure walked into the room. Everyone gasped upon seeing who it was.

"You," Teddy said in fear.

The figure then threw an unconscious Darkfang on the floor in front of Ruby.

"N-No... that's impossible," Ruby said.

"How about I end your shift early today... as soon as I end all your pathetic lives?" Quagsire said darkly.

* * *

The crowd was roaring with excitement. The Feisty Flygons were up against the Tenacious Tyranitars.

The Flygons' cheerleaders consisted of Kirlia, Meowstic, Buneary, Snivy, Purrloin, Hazel, and Carlos.

The Tyranitars' cheerleaders consisted of Braixen, Bellossom, Sandslash, Nidoqueen, Lanturn, Quilava, and Azumarill, who appeared to be about two years older than the other cheerleaders.

"Hey, amateurs,"Braixen called out to the other cheerleaders, "watch how it's really done!" They all then started with a bunch of backflips, and then jumped onto each other, creating a pyramid. Lanturn then floated up to the middle of the pyramid and shone her light as bright as she could, causing all the cheerleaders to have golden outlines. The crowd 'ooh'ed and cheered in awe.

"Ha! We can beat that, no problem!" Kirlia shot back before turning to her squad, "Alright, let's do it!" The five main cheerleaders held up wooden hoops while Carlos and Hazel linked their arms.

Braixen raised an eyebrow. _"What are those lame sophomores up to this time?"_ she wondered.

Carlos and Hazel then jumped, doing their spinning combo. Hazel then used fire spin to surround them in a ring of fire, lighting the hoops up as they jumped through them.

"Braixen, they could win like this!" Quilava said worriedly.

"Yeah, what do we do!?" Azumarill added.

"Will you guys stop already?" Braixen said, a smirk appearing on her face. "We can't do anything to rattle the girls... but I know what to do about that boy."

Hazel then broke away from the wheel, allowing Carlos to jump through the rest of the hoops while using spark, which, combined with the lingering fire spin, gave his cur a velvet glow.

"And... now!" Braixen said as winked in his direction, causing eight pink hearts to emerge and encircle Carlos.

_"Uh oh,"_ Carlos thought, _"I gotta improvise."_ When the hearts were really close to him, he strengthened his spark, which caused the attract to break and turn into dust that spread around him, making his golden fur. The crowd roared in excitement.

At that moment, the Flygons scored two more points, breaking the tie. As soon as they did, a portal appeared next to Carlos.

"Hey, it worked!" Carlos said.

"Now we can get back home!" Hazel said. She then turned to her cheerleader friends. "Thank you so much for taking us in. We're really gonna miss you guys... right, Carlos?"

Hazel turned around and saw Carlos running towards Braixen. Snivy sweatdropped. "Um... I think that attract still affected him. Sorry, Hazel."

"What do you mean by that?" Hazel asked.

"Well, isn't he your girlfriend?" Snivy asked. Hazel shook her head.

"Wow, it's too bad. You two make a cute couple," Meowstic added.

"Hey, hot stuff," Carlos said to Braixen, still under the influence of attract.

"Let me stop you there," Braixen said, holding out her hand, "you're not really my type. Plus, you're fifteen and I'm nineteen. Not only is that a big age difference, but I'm pretty sure it's against the law." Carlos looked down in disappointment, with the attract slowly wearing off. "But, you are one heck of a cheerleader. In fact, take these," Braixen said, handing Carlos what looked like part of a green amulet and a pom-pom with green and white stripes.

**(PS77: The rival cheerleaders' uniforms were green and white, with a tyranitar head symbol.)**

"What are these for?" Carlos asked, now that the attract had worn off.

"Well, if your other friends get through their nightmares, they'll receive the other parts of this amulet. When combined, you guys can come back here to visit us," Braixen said with a warm smile, "and the pom-pom is just a souvenir from us to you."

Carlos looked at the two items. "Thanks," he said. He and Hazel then went towards the portal. Before they set foot in it, they looked back at the cheerleaders and waved. "Bye! We promise to visit!" Hazel said.

"But only in between chapters, so PlasmaShinx77 can focus on the main chapters!" Carlos added. The cheerleaders waved goodbye before Carlos and Hazel disappeared through.

"Hey, you know what I find funny?" Snivy asked.

"What would that be?" Lanturn asked her.

"No one even paid attention to the basketball teams," Snivy replied.

* * *

"Han! Take Chewbacca and Katty back to your ship! I'll catch up as soon as I beat this guy!" Dusty said, taking out his lightsaber.

Han nodded and ran to his ship with the other two in tow. Darthfang laughed and took out a double-sided red lightsaber. "You can't beat me! You're just a kid!" Darthfang said, attempting to slash Dusty, who blocked it. He then slashed at Darthfang, leaving a I'm decently sized wound.

"FOOL!" Darthfang screamed, piercing Dusty's trunk. Dusty screamed, curling up on the floor and holding his bleeding trunk.

Darthfang raised his lightsaber, ready to end Dusty, when he was shot from behind.

"No one messes with MY man!" Katty said as the mightyena fell. Han and Chewbacca soon appeared behind her.

"Good thinkin', Katty," he said. Suddenly, a portal appeared in the room.

"Well, there's our ride home," Dusty said, turning to Han. "See you around, man." Before Dusty could leave, Chewbacca held out part of a green amulet and the lightsaber that Dusty had.

"Uh... thanks!" Dusty and Katty said, going through the portal.

_"Weirdos,"_ Han thought

* * *

Vixi, Zorua, Zoroark, the tribe leader and the zorua messenger were currently behind a bush, watching as many riolu and lucario were cheering at the sight of Anubis being slowly lowered into a large pool of boiling water.

"What are we going to do now?" Zoroark asked

"We need to talk to the lucario leader," Vixi responded. The tribe leader shook her head. "Absolutely not! Those lucario are savages! There is no way that I am putting you in danger!" she said furiously.

"And now," the lucario said to all the others, "this traitor shall pay for his crimes! 3..."

"Ms. Zoey, please! We have to help him!" Vixi said desperately to the tribe leader, Zoey. Zoey just shook her head again.

"... 2..." the lucario said.

"Please," Vixi said, beginning to cry, "don't do this."

"... 1..." the lucario said.

Vixi's eyes were pink with tears. "Anubis..." she cried.

"... Now-" the lucario started.

"LUCIUS, STOP!" Zoey screamed, jumping out of her hiding place. Every lucario in the area turned and glared at who they saw.

They all began to charge up aura spheres. Zoroark motioned for Vixi and Zorua to stay behind as she and the messenger took battle stances.

Just before all the lucario could fire their attacks, Lucius held his paw up, signaling for the others to stop. He then walked over to Zoey calmly, but still held a light glare. "Zoey... what are you doing here?"

"Lucius, this has to stop. I can't believe that you're even willing to burn one of your kin for a stupid feud," Zoey scolded.

Lucius crossed his arms. "That traitor is being punished because he shows kindness towards zorua and zoroark-"

"What did I even do to you!?" Zoey screamed.

"We were mates! We could've been the best couple in the world! But you decided to ditch me for a weavile!" Lucius screamed back. Zoey looked confused and thought about what he was talking about. Suddenly, realization hit her. So she took a deep breath, stared Lucius right in the eyes...

And delivered a powerful punch to his gut.

"YOU IDIOT!" Zoey roared. "THAT WEAVILE WAS FROM THE DIAMOND EMPORIUM! HE HAD A DIAMOND BECAUSE I WANTED TO USE IT TO PROPOSE TO YOU! HE WAS KNEELING BECAUSE IT FELL ON THE GROUND AND HE WANTED TO PICK IT UP!"

Lucius clutched his stomach in pain. "Z-Zoey... I had no idea. Forgive me, please." Zoey just glared at the injured lucario. Then, she smiled and they embraced in a hug.

The other lucario gasped. "Our leader is a traitor! Get him!" one shouted as they all charged at the helpless pokémon.

Suddenly, Vixi, still pink-and-teary-eyed, jumped out of the bushes.

"Gee, my pink eye is feeling really contagious today," she said.

That was enough to scare all the lucario away.

"Anubis!" Vixi exclaimed, running towards Anubis and untying his bonds, freeing him. They both embraced in their own hug. "Anubis... you scared me..." Vixi said, crying. Anubis patted her head. "I'm sorry..." Just then, a portal appeared.

Zoey and Lucius walked over to the two young pokémon. "Thank you... If it weren't for you two, our tribes would have never been united," Zoey told them, "so here is a gift for you." She then gave Vixi a piece of a green amulet and a book on illusions.

After everyone said their goodbyes, Anubis and Vixi went through the portal.

* * *

**_6:00 AM (Power: I don't even care anymore.)_**

Quagsire fell to the ground, defeated.

"No! Why!? How could you possibly defeat me!?" Quagsire yelled in agony.

"Dude, chill. All she did was scratch your face," Darkfang said annoyedly. He then turned to Ruby. "Umm... thanks for the save back there."

"No problem, but I couldn't have done it without these guys," Ruby said, motioning to the animatronics.

"Aww, it was nothing," Teddy said. Just then, a portal emerged.

"Oh. Looks like you guys have to go. But first, take these," Teddy said, giving Ruby a piece of a green amulet and his little hat.

"Thanks, Teddy. Hopefully, I'll see you soon!" Ruby said as she and Darkfang went through the portal.

* * *

Soon, the whole team was back in their room.

"Wow, that was crazy!" Dusty said.

"I'm just glad it's over," Carlos remarked. Then he remembered. "Hold on I forgot about the amulet!" Carlos said, taking out the piece he got. Dusty, Vixi and Ruby took out their pieces, which all connected into one large pendant.

"What do we do with this?" Darkfang asked, looking at the pendant.

"I don't care, let's all just go trick-or-treating so we can finally end this episode already!" Carlos said, which everyone agreed to.

* * *

**PlasmaShinx77: OH, THANK ARCEUS IT'S OVER!**

**Carlos: Man, I love being a cheerleader!**

**Hazel: Why are you always being hit with attract!?**

**PlasmaShinx77: That's nothing. Wait until you see the rest of the story. He gets kissed by so many other females that he makes pop stars look invisible.**

**Hazel: Why!?**

**PlasmaShinx77: He's the main character, and the main character always has others falling for them. Anyways, read and review, and DON'T YOU DARE FORGET ABOUT MY POLL! Bye!**


	23. Chapter 20: Hero to Zero

**Author's Note: I'm back, guys. Time for a warning, but the good kind of warning: as of right now, I am going to be using every single idea that my imagination can muster in this fanfic. Time for some awesomeness! Well, this chapter isn't so awesome...**

* * *

Beyond a desert, there is a town like area. There were pokémon walking around with smiles on their faces, merchants that hold only the most uncommon goods in the desert town, the occasional tumbleweed rolling into view.

Indeed, it was a beautiful day in Wesali.

A little away from the town, there was a cloaked, four-legged figure trudging through the sand and towards a large castle. It had peach colored windows, red flags, and a white exterior.

When the figure got to the castle, it stealthy used a stick to pry one of the windows open. It carefully lifted the window slightly to look inside.

There was a guard on the other side. The figure slowly closed the window and walked to the other side of the castle, waiting for,an authority figure to pass by.

A pancham with a sword and shield walked up to the pawniard guards in front of the drawbridge, who raised their spears up.

"State your name and your business," one of the guards said.

"I am Paul, elite royal guard reporting to see the king," the pancham, Paul, replied. The other guard nodded and went inside the castle, motioning for Paul to follow him as the drawbridge opened.

The cloaked figure waited until the guards were in and jumped onto the drawbridge and snuck in the castle before it closed completely.

Meanwhile, in the castle, two meganium, one of them being shiny, were sitting on thrones, staring at each other lovingly.

"Ahh... Herb, we've accomplished so much in our lives... an amazing kingdom with nice people... a beautiful and luxurious palace... and two marvelous princess children," the normally colored meganium said, nuzzling the shiny one.

"Yes. Although, none of this treatment will ever be as amazing as you, Ivy," Herb said. Just then, the two guards and Paul walked into the throne room.

"King and Queen, this pancham claims to be Paul, the elite guard," the first guard said.

Herb thought for a moment. "Prove it."

"What do you mean? I have my sword and shield!" Paul exclaimed, holding up said items.

"Nope. It should be something that only an elite guard would know," Herb said.

Paul thought for a moment. "Well, I know that every night, the King takes a cutout of the Queen and-"

"Okay, I believe you!" Herb said frantically, while getting a suspicious look from Ivy. "So, what is your business here, Paul?"

"Well, I received an anonymously signed package for you, my king," Paul said, holding out a basket of cookies, along with a pink, heart-shaped note. Ivy took the cookies and Herb took the note and read it aloud:

_Hey there, handsome. Just thought you'd like a sweet treat…and some cookies. I'd still like for you to reconsider my proposal. You're a shiny…you can do SO much better._

_\- Love, Amalia_

Ivy groaned. "That aurorus will stop at nothing to have you, Herb. It's getting out of hand."

"I know," Herb said, "it was bad enough with the love letters, but recently, she's been trying to kidnap me with all those attacks she's done..."

"No, she does them because she's cold-hearted. Just like the rest of her ancestors," Ivy told him. Herb nodded. "Well, I will put these cookies in our room. Paul, come with me." He then picked up the basket and headed towards his and Ivy's room, along with Paul. The cloaked figure followed them.

Paul waited outside while Herb was inside the room, trying to find a good place to store the cookies. He was looking under his bed when he heard someone enter the room.

"Paul? Is that you?" Herb asked as he looked behind him. However, instead of seeing the pancham guard, he saw a cloaked figure.

"Um... did someone let you in?" Herb asked.

Paul was guarding the outside, making sure that the king was undisturbed, when he heard an agonizing scream come from behind the door. He then hastily went inside, recognizing the scream as the king's.

When he got in, he saw a horrifying sight.

Herb was on the floor with a very deep gash on his stomach, which created a large pool of blood. Standing next to his corpse with a blood-stained sword was a cloaked pokémon.

Paul glared at the figure. "MURDERER! HOW DARE YOU KILL THE KING!?" he screamed.

"The figure remained still. "I have my reasons," the figure said calmly. It was hard to determine whether the voice was male or female, though.

"MONSTER! WHO ARE YOU!? REVEAL YOURSELF!" Paul screamed. The figure then walked over to him. "Not a chance," it said before taking off its cloak and making a run for it.

Paul, however, had seen it. He went to a room and took a paper before quickly running to the throne room, where the queen was. "My queen! Something terrible has happened!"

Ivy looked panicked at the sound of this. "What's wrong?"

"Our king... he has been murdered," Paul said, fighting back tears. Ivy gasped. She began to cry as she collapsed on the floor. Her one true love, the one who had helped her survive through life's obstacles, had been murdered... and on such a happy day.

Ivy then wiped away her tears and gave a vengeful glare. "What monster would do such a thing?"

Paul gave her the piece of paper that he had earlier. "Here is a clear picture of the culprit."

Ivy studied the picture. "I see. Make more fliers and have them posted everywhere. This villain must pay for his crime."

* * *

"So, what are your questions, Carlos?" Uxie asked.

**(Carlos: So, PS77 decided that you guys should hear from us more often, so he let us do these... talks. Anyways, I never actually thought about what I want to know about myself. Of course, there's the amnesia thing. Guess I'll have to wing it.)**

"Well... why do I have amnesia?" Carlos asked.

"Oh, um... I can't exactly answer that," Uxie replied rather sheepishly.

"Oh, okay," Carlos said understandingly, "so, uh... what am I supposed to do as a hero?"

Uxie turned away slightly. "Um... that's also classified."

Carlos sighed, exasperated by Uxie's secrecy. "Okay, let's try something a bit broader. What do you know about a pokémon named Diancie?"

Uxie perked up at hearing this. "Finally, a question that I can actually answer. Okay, so Diancie is one of the main protectors of the pokémon world. She leads a band of legendary heroes called the Legendary guardians."

"Legendary Guardians?" Carlos asked in confusion.

Uxie nodded. "Yes. They are - as the name implies - legendaries, who dedicate their time and power into suppressing the new evil that has befallen our world."

"Well, can you tell me about this new evil?" Carlos asked.

"Sure. Well, the new evil is a kind of evil that this world has never experienced before. The first sign of it approaching were minor tremors occurring sporadically. Then, it turned into many other natural disasters: tornados, tsunamis, you name it. One pokémon had even claimed to witness the process of cold fusion. However, a band of pokémon have recently been appearing in towns, terrorizing citizens," Uxie explained.

"So, these pokémon serve the new evil?" Carlos asked.

Uxie nodded. "Yes, and... this will sound a little scary, but... the new evil knows about you. And it won't stop searching every speck of this world until it finds you."

Carlos looked a bit nervous. "But wait... why me? I'm not special."

"No, that's not true," Hazel told him. "Carlos you're probably the most special person that I've met in my entire life. I mean, I used to be a coward who couldn't even fight back... until I met you. Just earlier, I actually had the resolve to actually hurt a legendary pokémon. The old me could've never done that. Even when I stand near you, I fell more determined than I've ever felt in my whole life."

Carlos felt really moved by Hazel's words. "Hazel is right," Uxie said. "You were chosen by Diancie because she knows that you are noble, brave, and courageous."

"Wow... that... that means a lot to me," Carlos said, wiping a tear away. Then he realized something. "Oh yeah... I understand that the new evil is scary and all, but... has anyone ever seen it before?"

Uxie shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The legendary guardians have tried to uncover the mystery multiple times, but each attempt has left them fruitless. But they believe that you can figure out who this mastermind is and defeat him once and for all."

"I see," Carlos said. "One more thing that I don't understand."

"Of course, what is it?" Uxie asked.

"When I was fighting Groudon, I went through some kind of transformation," Carlos told Uxie. Hazel nodded. "Yeah, the same thing happened when he fought Darkfang."

Uxie thought for a moment. "Hmm... Hazel, can you please describe what happened to Carlos during this transformation?"

"Well, for a second, it feels like there's some kind of aura emanating from him. Then, his fur starts to turn into some cyan color, and his eyes, ears, tail and wrists turn gold," Hazel explained.

"Yeah. When it happens, it's like I can feel pure energy flowing into me and out of me at the same time," Carlos added.

Uxie gasped. _"He has the Forme? The he IS the one!"_

"Uxie, is something bothering you? " Carlos asked, noticing how Uxie lost his composed behavior. Uxie quickly realized what he meant.

"What? Um, no. Are there any more questions that you would like to ask me?" Uxie asked, hoping to change the subject. Carlos thought for a bit, but he couldn't think of anything else that needed answering, so he shook his head no.

"Okay, then. It looks like I can bring the rest of your friends inside. Mesprit, if you would," Uxie said. Mesprit then entered the lake area with the rest of the guild.

Uxie looked at Wigglytuff and smiled. "Thank you for taking the time to visit here, Wigglytuff."

Wigglytuff smiled back. "No problem, friend!"

"Okay, so Mesprit and I can teleport you all back to the guild. Are you ready?" Uxie asked. Everyone nodded, so Uxie and Mesprit concentrated as they surrounded the guild pokémon in a purple light. In an instant, they were gone.

Mesprit sensed that Uxie had a troubled feeling. "Uxie, what's the matter?"

"We need to talk to Diancie. Now," Uxie said as he began to meditate until he was able to sense Diancie.

"Uxie? Is that you?" Diancie asked telepathically.

"Yes, and I have to tell you something," Uxie replied telepathically. "Carlos is definitely the one you've been looking for. When are you going to tell him?"

Diancie sighed. "No, Uxie. I will do it when the time is right." With that, she tethered the connection.

"So... how did it go?" Mesprit asked. Uxie sighed. "She still isn't convinced."

* * *

Everyone arrived at the guild in a flash. They looked around and felt comforted by the sight of their guild.

"Well, thank goodness that's over," Chatot said in relief. He then noticed that Carlos was giving him and Wigglytuff a stern look. Chatot laughed sheepishly. "So... remember that time that you were mad at us for leaving you out of the expedition?"

"You mean right now?" Carlos replied.

"We're sorry, friend. We should've included you," Wigglytuff said sadly.

Carlos sighed. "Well, I guess I can forgive you. I mean, I still got to go, thanks to Ruby."

"Who's Ruby?" Chatot asked.

"She's the glameow that I came with," Carlos said. But when he looked around, Ruby was nowhere to be seen. "Het, where'd she go?"

"She must have already left," Vixi said. Just then, a piece of paper fell from the Graf and floated over to Carlos, who picked it up and read what was on it:

_Meet me at the beach. -Ruby_

"It's a note from Ruby. She wants to see me at the beach," Carlos said. "You guys wait here." Everyone watched as Carlos went upstairs and left.

"I wonder what Ruby is like..." Dusty said. Right at that moment, another paper came down the grate and slid towards the guild members.

"Another paper?" Chatot asked as he picked it up. When he saw what was on it, his eyes widened and he gasped. "Oh... my... goodness."

The others were concerned about Chatot's reaction, so they all looked at the paper to see what made him freeze up. When they all saw it, they had the same reaction.

"I can't believe it..." Dusty said.

"It can't be true," Katty added.

"How could this happen?" Hazel said, on the verge of tears.

* * *

Carlos had just arrived on the beach, waiting for Ruby to appear so he could talk to her.

"Glad you could make it," Ruby said, appearing from behind one of the rocks on Beach Cave. She then walked towards Carlos. "Sorry for leaving so quickly. I just need to keep a low profile."I'm

"It's okay," Carlos said. "But I want to ask you something."

"Sure, what is it?" Ruby asked.

"Do you want to be on Team Destiny?" Carlos asked. Ruby looked shocked. "You want me to be on your team?" Carlos nodded.

"B-But why me? I'm a thief!" Ruby said.

Carlos shook his head. "No, you're not. That wasn't your fault. You got framed for something you didn't do, but you shouldn't let that bring you down."

"I know that," Ruby told him, "but what about everyone in the guild?"

"Hey, you brought me to Fogbound Lake," Carlos said. "If it wasn't for you, Hazel and the others would've died. That alone proves that you're a good pokémon."

Ruby wiped away a tear from her eye. "Wow... that's the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me. You know what? I will join your team!" Carlos smiled. "Thanks. Now come on, I want to introduce you to everyone at the guild."

"Wait! Stop!" a voice said. Carlos and Ruby turned around and saw an alakazam standing in front of Beach Cave.

"... not to be rude or anything, but who exactly are you?" Carlos asked, confused as to why a random pokémon would order him to stop.

"Oh, of course. I should give you a proper introduction. My name is Magul," the alakazam named Magul replied.

"Why did you tell us to stop?" Ruby asked.

"I am one of the most powerful psychic types ever. I can see the future, and yours is very terrible," Magul said, pointing to Carlos. "However, if you avoid the guild, you may just survive."

Carlos scoffed. "Pfft. As if. Look, I understand that you are a respected psychic, but nothing bad could possibly come out of this."

Magul sighed. "I tried to warn you... nevertheless, good luck to both of you." With that being said, Magul teleported away.

Carlos looked confused. "Sheesh, what was his deal?"

"I don't have a clue," Ruby replied as they both proceeded to head to the guild.

* * *

When they got up the steps, Carlos stepped on the grate so Diglett could see his print.

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!" Diglett's voice echoed.

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?" Loudred shouted.

"The footprint is-" Carlos then heard Diglett stop in the middle of his sentence. He then heard a bunch of pokémon muttering from the other side of the grate. A few seconds later, the guild's gate opened up.

"Well, that was odd..." Carlos thought as he led Ruby into the guild.

* * *

When they got to the main room, they were surprised by what they saw. All of the guild pokémon were standing there, and they were all either glaring at Carlos, looking at him disappointedly, or backing away in fear.

Carlos, however, was confused by their hostile reactions. "Did I miss something?" he asked. However, nobody said anything. They just continued glaring. The hostile tension was beginning to make Carlos nervous.

Finally, Chatot worked up the courage to speak. "When were you going to tell us?" he asked bitterly.

Carlos was shocked by Chatot's attitude. "You mean the expedition?"

"I can't believe a friendly friend would lie to us," Wigglytuff said, actually frowning.

"What are they talking about?" Ruby asked Carlos.

"I don't even know," Carlos said, getting more and more confused by the second.

"Oh, you don't?" Hazel asked sarcastically. "Maybe this will refresh your memory," she said angrily, sliding a piece of paper towards him. He picked it up, and was shocked by what it said:

_Wanted: Shinx_

_A few hours ago in Wesali, a cloaked pokémon snuck into the Wesali Palace and murdered King Herberius. Not much was known about the perpetrator, but security camera footage revealed it to be a shiny shinx. An elite guard also claimed to have seen a red band around his neck. Also, we received an anonymous tip that the perpetrator's name is Carlos._

"What!? But that wasn't me!" Carlos exclaimed. Hazel merely scoffed. "Sure, because Wesali is just crawling with shinies."

Suddenly, Magnezone and Magnemite appeared from the mess hall and tackled Carlos and Ruby to the ground.

"BZZT! MURDERER CARLOS AND RUBY HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFULLY APPREHENDED!" Magnemite said.

"Wait! I didn't do anything!" Carlos shouted frantically.

"TAKE THEM TO THE PRISON ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF TREASURE TOWN!" Magnezone buzzed.

Carlos couldn't believe it. He caught up with the expedition. He was able to save Hazel, and they even kissed. He was a real hero.

And now, he was being thrown in jail.

* * *

**Author's Note: Ooh, drama! And so begins the ****_Framed for Murder_**** story arc, which is nothing but drama and suspense. Sorry that this chapter was published kind of late, but every time that I start a new story arc, I take a 3-day break before starting. Anyways, see you guys on the next chapter! Also, it isn't too late to submit an OC. Here is the finalized template:**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Gender:**

**Species:**

**Personality:**

**Background(optional):**

**Love Interest(optional):**

**Ribbons or Bands(optional):**

**Special Features(optional):**


	24. Chapter 21: Life as a Prisoner

**Author's Note: Welcome, everyone. Time for the next chapter, and I think you all know what to expect in this chapter. Anyways, enjoy!**

* * *

On the outskirts of Treasure Town, there was a maximum-security prison. The whole building was shaped like a square. There were barely any windows, and they were all small and had steel bars. The whole structure was painted gray.

The inside was even worse. There was only a narrow hallway to walk through, and prison cells were on each side of the hall. Each cell had thick steel bars to prevent prisoners from escaping.

Two magnemite appeared from one side of the hall, shoving Carlos and Ruby, who now had cuffs on their forelegs and hind legs.

"MOVE FASTER, CRIMINALS!" one of the magnemite shouted.

"For the last time... we are not criminals!" Carlos screamed. Eventually, they arrived at a seemingly empty cell. The magnemite opened it and threw Carlos and Ruby inside.

"BZZT! REST WELL, YOU BOTH HAVE LONG DAYS AHEAD OF YOU!" the second magnemite buzzed as they left.

Ruby started to cry, while the turn of events were processing in Carlos' head.

**(Carlos: WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED!?)**

He sighed, disbelieving of the fact that his own team would turn on him. Well, Darkfang, Anubis and Vixi just stood there confusedly. The only team members who really turned on him were Dusty, Katty, and... Hazel.

"I should've known that I couldn't trust them," Carlos muttered bitterly. That caught Ruby's attention, as she looked up at him in between sobs. "What do you mean?" she asked, her voice cracking a bit.

Carlos sighed. "Hazel, Dusty and Katty were so nice when I first met them... I should've known that no one could be that nice." He sighed again and looked at Ruby as tears began to form. "Ruby, I'm so sorry. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in jail." Carlos had now begun to sob softly. Ruby went over and gave him a hug. "That wasn't your fault. I was originally a thief, so don't blame yourself."

"Will you two please shut it so I can get some sleep!?" someone shouted from the other side of the cell. Carlos and Ruby tried to see who said it, but the moonlight didn't reach the other part of the cell, so they couldn't see.

Carlos got into a battle stance. "Who's there!?"

"Show yourself!" Ruby shouted.

The figure gasped lightly as it stepped into the moonlight, revealing it to be a sneasel. "How sad. How could you not remember your bestie, Ruby?" Ruby appeared to be confused at first, but then realization hit her, and she ran to the sneasel and embraced her in a hug.

Ruby cried again. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again!"

The sneasel was equally happy to see Ruby as it returned the hug. "The feeling was mutual!"

When they broke the hug, they looked at Carlos, who appeared to be confused at the sight of Ruby hugging a random pokémon.

"Oh, yeah!" Ruby said, "Carlos, this is Sally. The sneasel that I told you about. Sally, this is Carlos."

Sally walked over to Carlos. "Nice to meet you. Any friend of Ruby's is a friend of mine," she said as they shook paws and claws.

"You know, Carlos could've arrested me, but he spared me so I could take him to Fogbound Lake," Ruby said.

"Well, I appreciate that. But how did you guys get in here?" Sally asked.

"Someone framed Carlos for murdering a king, and when they saw me with him, they took me in," Ruby explained. "But enough about us. What happened after I left?"

Sally scratched the back of her head. "Well, it all went by pretty fast, but they said that they would just keep me here. Ruby looked at her friend suspiciously.

**(Ruby: If Sally was trying to play it cool in front of me and Carlos, then she wasn't doing a good job at it. I've known her for a whole year, and I know that whenever she scratches the back of her head, she's hiding something.)**

"And you're sure that nothing else was said?" Ruby asked.

"Of c-course, would I ever lie to you?" Sally said. Ruby decided to go back to the subject another time.

Sally cleared her throat. "So, were you guys informed of the daily routine?" Carlos and Ruby looked confused. "What routine?" Carlos asked.

"You don't know?" Sally asked. "We have a schedule to follow in this prison. Here, I still have my syllabus." She then went back into the dark and came back out with a piece of paper, which she handed to Carlos. He and Ruby read what was on it:

_6:00 to 6:05 - Wake-Up Call_

_6:05 to 7:00 - Breakfast/Socialization_

_7:00 to 10:30 - Rock Breaking_

_10:30 to 12:00 - Digging_

_12:00 to 1:00 - Lunch/Socialization_

_1:00 to 3:00 - Prison Yard_

_3:00 to 7:00 - Cold-Call Interrogations_

_7:00 to 8:00 - Dinner/Socialization_

_8:00 to 8:30 - Curfew_

_8:30 to 11:00 - Major Interrogations_

Carlos put the paper down. "Wow... prison kind of seems like a total joke now. I mean, why are meals so long?"

"Well, it's still a lot of labor..." Ruby said.

Sally yawned. "Well, we'd better get to sleep if we want to do good in our work tomorrow. Good night." She then went to the dark corner to sleep. Carlos and Ruby laid down in the moonlight.

"Sorry that you were mistaken for a criminal," Ruby said.

"It's alright," Carlos said. "I just don't know what kind of person would do that kind of thing."

Ruby sighed. "That's just the way the world is. Good night," she said as she closed her eyes.

Carlos eventually became overcome with tiredness as well. "Good night," he replied as he fell asleep.

* * *

"He got thrown in jail!?" Sharese shouted in glee. "Awesome!" Evan and Darkburn, on the other hand, looked shocked. "Oh my god, Sharese... you've gone way to far this time!" Darkburn said.

Sharese glared at him. "Whatever. At this rate, he'll end up in the same way as Team Infinity."

"But Carlos is only 15! How could you frame a teenager!?" Evan said.

"I'd watch that talk if you ever want to see Zoraya again!" Sharese hissed, which made Evan go mute. "That's better. Now, I'm going to take a quick nap." Sharese then went to her room.

"Face it, Evan," Darkburn said, slowly shaking his head, "that girl is cray-cray!"

* * *

Carlos woke up to Sheriff Magnezone making a loud noise, waking all of the prisoners. Carlos rubbed his ears. _"Meh. Still better than waking up to Loudred,"_ he thought.

"BZZT! EVERYONE TO THE MESS HALL FOR BREAKFAST!" Magnezone buzzed as the cells opened and everyone went to the prison cafeteria.

* * *

"Yuck! What is this stuff?" Carlos asked as he slowly tapped the gooey substance on his plate.

"Apparently it's mashed potatoes," Sally said, calmly taking a bite out of the disgusting goop.

A fraxure, a monferno, a larvitar and a glaceon were sitting a few tables across. The fraxure looked up from his breakfast and saw Carlos. He began to snicker. "Hey, everyone! Looks like we've got a shiny on our grounds! What do you think he did: use the wrong fork at teatime?" Everyone began to laugh at the fraxure's comment.

Carlos blushed in humiliation while Ruby glared at the fraxure. "What a jerk... who does he think he is?"

Sally looked at the pokémon Ruby was referring to. "Oh, him? That's Blake. He always makes fun of newbies."

"Does that mean he made fun of you? Oh, he is SO gonna-" Ruby attempted to get up, but Sally stopped her. "Don't bother. He can beat any of the prisoners, especially with those friends of his."

"So he can just make fun of me all he wants!?" Carlos said, astonished that even prisoners were pushed around by bullies.

Sally shrugged. "That's just the way the world is." Carlos paused. That was the second time he heard that phrase. It may have been prison, but he felt bad for all the pokémon there who lived that phrase every day of their lives.

* * *

Carlos, Ruby, Sally and a bunch of other prisoners were currently trying to break rocks.

"What's the point of this? Why is it even a thing!?" Carlos asked as he broke another rock with his bare paw.

"I know, it's so dumb!" Ruby remarked.

"Probably to wear us all out so they don't have to let us rot in our cells," Sally said.

"... okay..." Carlos said as he broke another rock, hearing something else crack as he winced. _"Man, I'd KILL for Anubis' rock smash. Oh wait, according to Wesali, I DID kill."_

* * *

All of the prisoners were let out into some kind of fenced in yard. Carlos looked around at all the pokémon, who were either lifting weights, shoving each other or just sitting down.

"Welcome to the prison yard," Sally said to Carlos and Ruby. "This is where they let us outside to... do stuff, I guess."

"Well, there's not much to do..." Carlos said before spotting a bench. "Hey, do you guys want to sit down?" Ruby and Sally seemed happy about sitting down with the hours of labor they endured, so they all crossed to the other side of the yard and sat down on the bench. Unfortunately, Blake, the fraxure from earlier, arrived, along with the monferno, glaceon, and larvitar.

Blake walked up to Carlos. "Hey, priss! You're in our spot!"

Sally scoffed. "You guys have never sat here, Blake."

"Yeah, but why should I let pretty boy here feel comfortable?" Blake said with a grin.

**(Carlos: You know what, I've just about had it with that jerk. So I told him exactly what I thought of him.)**

Carlos glared at Blake. "You know something!? You're nothing but a big, fat jerk!" This earned a bunch of 'ooh's from the other prisoners. Soon, Carlos and Blake had attracted a crowd that only created an open circle. All of the spectators began to chant: "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"I sure hope Carlos is aware of what he's getting himself into," Sally said to Ruby.

Blake looked at Carlos and glared. "Looks like you've got nowhere to go, except to deal with me: Blake, the mighty fraxure!"

Carlos returned the glare. "Oh, please! The only thing I'M gonna 'fraxure' is your skull!"

**BOSS FIGHT #8: Blake**

**[_Kid Icarus Uprising: Boss Battle_ music]**

Carlos ran at full speed and tackled Blake, who didn't reel back from the attack. "What the..." Carlos thought before Blake suddenly flung him into the air before jumping up and slamming Carlos into the ground.

"What was that!?" Ruby asked, shocked by the move.

"Dual chop," Sally replied, "one of Blake's strongest moves."

After Carlos got up painfully, he barely dodged another dual chop from the fraxure. "Do you really think you can beat me!?" Blake said. "I've been training for almost my whole life!" Carlos glared at him harder, but Blake didn't look scared.

Carlos was confused. Blake merely smirked. "I bet you're wondering why your intimidate isn't working. It's all thanks to my ability: mold breaker. It disables the abilities of others," he explained.

"Fine. I'll just use a move then!" Carlos said, leering at Blake, who felt a chill go down his spine. Carlos then bit his arm as he screamed in pain, throwing him off his arm quickly.

Carlos ran up to Blake and hit him with a spark, which looked like it did nothing. "Dragon types are resistant to electricity, moron," Blake said cockily. Carlos just smiled. "Yeah... I wasn't aiming for damage."

Blake looked at him confusedly before a surge of pain suddenly traveled through his body. He fell to his knees, trying to shake the paralysis off, but to no avail.

"All right, this fight is over!" Carlos said as he got ready to tackle Blake. Suddenly, Sheriff Magnezone came in.

"BZZT! IS THERE FIGHTING HERE?" he asked.

"Yes," Carlos replied.

"DO EITHER OF YOU HAVE GUNS?" Magnezone asked.

"... no," Carlos and Blake replied.

"OKAY, CARRY ON!" Magnezone said as he left.

Carlos looked back at Blake, who was beginning to heal from the paralysis. He then charged quickly at Blake and rammed him, bringing him to the ground.

The monferno, glaceon, and larvitar went to check on Blake, while every other prisoner cheered for Carlos.

Sally and Ruby ran over to Carlos. "Carlos, that was awesome!" Sally said. "You're the first pokémon ever to beat Blake!" The three of them then heard grunting and turned around to see Blake standing up. He looked at Carlos.

Everyone felt high tensions at the sight of the two just staring at each other. It felt never ending. Blake then walked towards Carlos slowly. Carlos got ready for battle in case he tried anything, but Blake merely smiled and held out his claw. "Not bad. You're tougher than I thought. You can hang with me anytime." Carlos hesitantly shook his claw.

**(Carlos: Okay, what!? I just humiliated him in front of the whole prison, and now he wants to be my friend!?)**

"By the way, I never got your name," Blake said.

"Oh, it's Carlos," Carlos told him.

"Well, Carlos, I should introduce you to my friends," Blake said, motioning to the other three. "The monferno is Kevin, the larvitar is Felix, and the glaceon is Hailey."

"What's up?" Kevin greeted.

"... hi..." Felix said reluctantly.

"Hello," Hailey said.

"Hello to you all," Carlos said. "And these two are my friends: Sally and Ruby," he said, pointing to his two friends.

"DINNER'S READY!" Magnezone's voice echoed. "Say, let's all sit together at dinner. It'd be a good way to get to know each other," Blake said as he and his friends left.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked Carlos, who looked shocked. "You know, I've got to admit," he said as he grew a happy expression, "prison is pretty cool!"

Sally rolled her eyes playfully. "Let's just get to dinner," she said, leading the other two back to the mess hall.

* * *

**Author's Note: So, just wanted to show you what prison in the pokémon world is like... well, in my imagination. Sorry for the short chapter, though. BTW, sorry if the battle scene seemed a little rushed, but I assure you that the next two chapters are gonna be epic and dramatic. Also, Kevin the monferno belongs to imsurprisedthisnameisnttaken, and Felix the larvitar belongs to Polar333. See y'all next time!**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 18 Tackle/Leer/Bite/Spark**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 18 Scratch/Fake Out/Feint Attack/Hypnosis**

**Sally (sneasel) - Level 17 Fury Swipes/Icy Wind/Feint Attack/Quick Attack**

**Blake (fraxure) - Level 30 Dragon Claw/Slash/Dual Chop/Fling**

**Kevin (monferno) - Level 25 Fury Swipes/Flame Wheel/Mach Punch/Ember**

**Hailey (glaceon) - Level 25 Quick Attack/Icy Wind/Bite/Ice Shard**

**Felix (larvitar) - Level 22 Bite/Leer/Chip Away/Rock Slide**


	25. Chapter 22: The Horrible Truth

**Author's Note: Hello, and sorry if I don't update in a while, but I'm in the middle of taking some serious tests at school. Anyways, sorry to all who think that the ending is a little too dark. Also, I'd like to clarify something: if you turned in an OC earlier, its role in the story is more important. The OCs I've gotten so far, in order, are - Evan (Xorobukkit), Anubis and Vixi (November Red Angel), Kevin (imsurprisedthisnameisnttaken), and Felix (Polar333). These OCs were requested early in the story, so they will each hold significance to the story. Thank you guys for you contributions, they really help the story grow! Without further ado, enjoy the show!**

* * *

At the Wigglytuff Guild, Hazel, Dusty, Katty, Darkfang, Anubis and Vixi had just returned from a mission in Drenched Bluff. They had gotten a reviver seed as a reward from the turtwig that needed rescuing.

Chatot then came into the room. "Team Destiny, I am happy to announce that you have reached bronze rank. You get a bigger room and 500 poké," he said, giving Hazel a stack of coins.

**(Hazel: Basically, 'new room' means our old room somehow gets bigger.)**

Before Chatot left, he looked at the team sadly. "Also... I'm sorry that Carlos betrayed your trust."

The team silently went to their new room. It definitely had more space, and even a few more beds: about 16 of them.

Hazel sighed and laid down on her bed. Katty laid down next to her. "Are you okay, sweetie?" she asked.

Hazel shook her head. "No, he lied to me... he lied to all of us... HE'S A JERK!" she screamed, looking at Katty, who was shocked to see so much hatred from Hazel. Dusty looked at her sympathetically. "Yeah, he betrayed us all..."

Darkburn just sighed. "Guys, this is stupid... I mean, could Carlos even be capable of

killing-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP YOU STUPID CRIMINAL!" Hazel screamed, making everyone in the room flinch in fear. "THAT FREAKING TRAITOR BROKE MY HEART! I TRUSTED HIM, I ADORED HIM, I EVEN LOVED HIM! AND LOOK AT WHAT HE DID!"

**(Katty: *sighs* Hazel's been acting this way ever since Carlos got arrested. Now all she feels is hatred towards him, and her anger apparently made her the new team leader.)**

Everyone looked at Hazel in fear. "I... I think you might need to be alone," Darkfang said, motioning for Anubis and Vixi to follow him outside.

"Why did you want us to come out here with you?" Vixi asked as they were in the hallway. Darkfang looked around to make sure no one was listening. "Look, I don't think that Carlos was the one who killed the king. Do you guys?"

Anubis and Vixi shook their heads. "It's impossible. Carlos was with us from the moment you guys left to when we got to the end of Steam Cave," Vixi said.

"Vixi's right," Anubis added. "Carlos was with us the whole time. Even when we slept, there's no way he could've gone to Wesali and back that quickly."

"Exactly! Which is why we need to go to the prison to visit Carlos tomorrow," Darkfang told them, making them gasp. "Visit... a prison? Are you crazy?" Vixi said quietly. "No, I'm not," Darkfang retorted. "If we want to help him, we need to take action! And I know other pokemon who know Carlos well..."

* * *

Carlos, Ruby, Sally, Blake, Kevin, Hailey, and Felix were currently in the mess hall, eating oran berry slices and cheri pie.

"Mmm," Carlos said, savor into the taste of the pie, "it's hard to believe that this kind of stuff is served to prisoners."

Blake nodded. "Yeah, you'd think that they would feed us gruel... anyway, why don't we all become friends?"

"Sounds good to me," Ruby and Sally both said in unison.

"So, Carlos, how could someone like you get in prison?" Blake asked.

Carlos looked sad. "Well... you see, I have an exploration team called Team Destiny. After one of our adventures, they saw a paper that apparently said that I killed the king of Wesali. I thought my friends would back me up, but they encouraged my arrest. I guess they're not real friends after all."

Blake looked surprised. "You were framed for murder? So were we!"

"Really? What happened?" Sally asked.

* * *

_FLASHBACK (Blake's POV)_

_So, me and the others were exploring some mystery dungeon when we all made it to a clearing._

_"All right, guys, I think we may have cornered that outlaw," I said._

_"I wanted to go alone..." Felix said in a sort of annoyed way._

_"Come on, Felix," I said, trying to get him to lighten up a bit, "we're a team. I know you like doing things solo, but everything's better when we're all together."_

_"Oh, what a touching scene," we heard a sarcastic voice say. We looked around but we couldn't find the pokémon that was talking._

_"Who's there?" Hailey asked._

_"Show yourself, coward!" Kevin demanded. Suddenly, we all had to dodge an incoming shock wave. We looked to the source of the attack, which was a female shinx._

_"Gee, did I scare you?" the shinx asked in mock sympathy._

_"Now we've got you, crook!" Kevin shouted as he lunged at the shinx, who elegantly dodged it. "How uncouth. I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Sharese," the shinx who was apparently named Sharese said._

_"What do you want?" I asked, hoping to get some answers on why she led us there._

_"Oh, nothing... just wanted to do... THIS!" she shouted, throwing cheri berries at us. She then squeezed the juice out of one of the berries and rubbed it on her stomach. She then laid down on her back and closed her eyes._

_Me and the others were confused as to what she was doing. "What... just happened?" I asked._

_"Who cares? We apprehended her!" Kevin said as he looked up at the sky dreamily. "Imagine what Charolette will think..." Just then, Sherriff Magnezone arrived._

_The only problem is, seeing Sharese's stomach covered in a red liquid and seeing our claws with the same liquid kind of gave him the wrong idea._

* * *

"And that's pretty much how we got here," Blake finished.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Ruby said, clearly sad for the pokémon.

"We're you guys an exploration team?" Sally asked.

Blake nodded. "Yeah, we were called Team Infinity. We were the perfect combination of pokémon: I was the stealth expert, Kevin was the brawn, Hailey was the mediator, and Felix was the brains."

Carlos, meanwhile, was lost in thought, realizing who had brought Blake and his team to jail. "The shinx that framed you was called Sharese?" he asked Blake to clarify. Blake nodded.

Carlos mentally slapped himself. _"Of course! It all makes sense now!"_ he thought.

"Carlos, is anything the matter?" Hailey asked.

Carlos nodded. "Yes. You know Sharese? She's the reason I'm here, too!" Everyone gasped upon hearing this. Kevin clenched his fists. "Sharese is doing way too much damage. When I get my hands on her..."

"Calm down, Kevin," Hailey told him, immediately calming him. "Carlos, are you 100% sure that Sharese is the one that framed you?"

Carlos nodded before taking a wanted poster of 'him', which was conveniently in the cafeteria. "Just look. Sharese is about the same height as me, and she has the same body structure..."

"That's true, but what about her yellow color?" Kevin asked.

"Simple: she used sitrus berry extract in order to make special yellow dye. As for why the picture is sparkling, it could've been that Sharese embedded tiny crystals in her fur. The crystals' material would have reflected light, creating a brief glow," Carlos explained.

Everyone seemed impressed with Carlos' logic. "That's a really good point. You should use that information to clear your name," Blake told him before looking down. "Too bad we don't have proof for ourselves..."

Carlos thought for a moment. Blake and his friends were really nice people, and they didn't deserve to be treated with disrespect. He wanted to help them, but he couldn't think of anything.

"Man, I wish there was some way I could help you, Blake," he said. "I mean, I know exactly how you feel."

Blake sniffled a bit. "You do?"

"Yeah. I have my own exploration team - Team Destiny. We're kind of rising stars in Treasure Town," Carlos told him.

"It's true. Carlos was actually able to singlehandedly defeat Primal Groudon," Ruby added, giving Carlos a pat on the back. Sally looked stunned. "Seriously? You actually beat him by yourself!?"

Carlos nodded in pride.

"Wow... that's impressive," Blake said. "I wish I would've known that before I picked on you," he added sheepishly.

Carlos took another bite out of his pie. "That's another thing... if you were in an exploration team, then why do you pick on other people?" Blake looked down in shame. "The thing is... I tried to explain to my guild that we didn't do anything, but they didn't disagree with Magnezone. In fact, they encouraged our arrests! Some friends they are..."

"Yeah, I know how you feel. My best friends encouraged my arrest," Carlos said in an attempt to make Blake feel better.

"If they wanted you to go to prison as a teenager, then they don't sound like best friends after all," Blake told him.

Carlos then brought up something else to talk about. "Hey, speaking of which, how old are all of you, because I'm 15."

"I'm 18 years old," Blake began.

"I'm 24, but you already knew that," Ruby said.

"I'm 17," Sally said.

"I'm also 17," Hailey said.

"I'm 16," Kevin said enthusiastically.

"17..." Felix muttered quietly.

Suddenly, a bell rang throughout the room.

"Looks like dinner is over," Blake said, a hint of sadness remaining in his voice.

* * *

Soon, everyone was back in their cells. Magnezone came into the hallway and stopped when he reached the cell that Carlos, Ruby and Sally were in. "BZZT! PRISONER CARLOS HAS VISITORS! COME WITH ME TO THE DISCUSSION ROOM!" he buzzed, taking Carlos out of the cell and leading him to another room.

When they arrived, the room was in bad shape. The walls were only gray bricks, and a glass window separated one side of the room from the other. On the other side of the glass, however, Carlos saw Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi and Team Poképals.

"YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO TALK!" Magnezone said as he left the room. Carlos instantly ran towards them. "Guys, you're here!" he exclaimed happily.

"Of course. We weren't going to leave you lonely here," Piplup said.

"Actually, this may astound you, but a lot of the prisoners are really cool," Carlos told them. "They're just nice, misunderstood pokémon."

"Exactly!" Darkfang said. "Anyways, Carlos, we know that you're not the one who killed the Wesalian King."

"Yeah, it was Sharese!" Carlos replied.

Team Poképals looked confused. "Who's Sharese?" Chimchar questioned

"She's a mysterious shinx that ambushed us in Apple Woods. She wanted to take me, but me and Hazel beat her. When she got up, she gave us the perfect apples we needed to get," Carlos explained to them. Chimchar did not look amused. "Wow, she did the exact opposite of what Team Skull did."

"Okay, and who's Team Skull?" Carlos asked.

"They were an exploration team that hated us and took every chance they had to humiliate us," Piplup said.

Carlos understood. "Ah. They're your Team Ember."

Darkfang took this time to talk. "Speaking of team Ember, we encountered them when we found Fogbound Lake."

Carlos sighed. "Man, those guys are relentless..."

"Guys, I hate to interrupt, but how do we help Carlos?" Vixi asked.

Carlos thought for a moment. Vixi was right. They needed a way to free him. Something big. All of a sudden, an idea hit him.

"Oh, my Arceus! I just came up with the best idea ever!" he said. The six pokémon huddled to the best of their ability due to the glass, and Carlos told them the plan.

"Wow, that IS an awesome plan..." Anubis said.

"But do you think it'll work?" Piplup inquired. Carlos nodded. "Of course. I'm sure the prisoners would be more than willing to cooperate." Just as Carlos finished his sentence, Sherriff Magnezone floated into the room. After saying their goodbyes, the two visiting teams left and Magnezone escorted Carlos back to his cell.

"So? What happened?" Sally asked.

"My team and Team Poképals came to visit," Carlos replied. Suddenly, they all heard someone crawling loudly through the vents.

"What was that?" Sally asked. "Maybe it was a rattata."

"Maybe it was a tumbleweed," Ruby offered.

"Maybe it was Balloon Boy," Carlos said. Ruby and Sally looked at him with perturbed expressions. "Sorry. I'll check it out," Carlos said as he climbed the bunk beds and jumped into an opening in the vent, crawling after whatever was making the noise.

After Carlos was gone, Ruby turned to Sally sternly. "Now that Carlos is gone, tell me what's wrong."

Sally shook her head defiantly. "No. It's too bad to hear."

Ruby sighed and walked up to Sally. "Sally, we're best friends. We'd walk through countless natural disasters for the sake of our friendship and you know it. You can tell me anything."

Sally looked at her for a bit before sighing in defeat. "If that's what you want." She took a deep breath before preparing herself to say it. "...there's gonna be a massacre."

Ruby was taken aback by what she had just heard. "What?" Sally sighed again and sat down on her bed, motioning for Ruby to do the same. When they were both seated, Sally took a deep breath. "Let me start from the beginning..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Carlos was having a hard time crawling through the vent system. When he turned a corner, he saw a mechanical boy who had clown shoes, red and blue striped clothing, a creepy smile and a red balloon in his hand. They stared at each other for a little bit.

"I KNEW IT!" Carlos shouted, his voice echoing through the system. The mechanical boy shook his head and pointed to a vent behind him, which had a hole in it, revealing Blake, who was typing on some large digital object.

Carlos nodded in understanding. "Oh. Thanks," he said, shaking the boy's hand before they each parted ways. When Carlos jumped out of the vent, Blake turned around in alarm, but then sighed in relief when he saw who it was.

"Man, you almost gave me a heart attack," Blake muttered as he kept typing. Then he did a double-take when he saw what was in Carlos' paw. "Is that a balloon?"

Carlos looked at the balloon and nodded.

"Where on earth did you get a balloon?" Blake asked with curiosity.

"The magical boy in the vent," Carlos stated bluntly.

"...sure, let's go with that," he said, continuing his typing.

"So, what exactly are you doing here?" Carlos asked. Blake stopped typing for a bit and turned to Carlos. "Oh, didn't I mention? I'm also a hacker. This over here is the prison's security mainframe. It holds all of the prisoners' top secret files, the jail's layout-"

"Does it show the food schedule?" Carlos asked anxiously.

Blake scoffed. "Why do you think we keep getting good food?" he asked rhetorically as he kept typing things. Suddenly, he came across something new.

"Update? That wasn't there before," he mused as he clicked on it, revealing some sort of document. Blake briefly read it and stopped, staring at the document in horror. Carlos looked at the document to see what Blake was so scared of, and he had the same reaction.

Suddenly, they heard someone open the door. Thinking fast, Blake shut down the computer and the two pokémon made a jump for the vents in the blink of an eye.

When the door opened, Magnezone came in, taking a key and leaving.

In the vents, Carlos and Blake sighed in relief. Then their faces turned grim.

"Did you see what I see?" Blake asked shakily. Carlos nodded. "Yeah. I'd better go tell the girls," he said solemnly as he crawled through the vents and back to his own cell, where he saw Ruby and Sally looking sad.

"Did you hear about it, too?" Ruby asked, noticing how sad Carlos was.

"Yeah. I can't believe that Magnezone is just gonna kill us all," Carlos said sadly.

"Well, there's nothing we can do about it," Sally said. "That's just the way the world-"

"No," Carlos said, standing up. "I've heard enough of that phrase. The world isn't like that. We're innocent and it knows it. Now it's time for us to believe!"

Ruby and Sally were still confused. "Carlos, what are you saying?" Ruby asked.

Carlos looked at them and smirked. "We're having a jailbreak."

* * *

**Author's Note: ...dark, huh? Anyways, for you younger viewers, I hope that didn't scare you. Look forward to the next chapter! BTW, I'm thinking of making a fanfic that's just for the purpose of viewers to ask the characters questions about this fanfic. Your thoughts? Should I do it?**


	26. Chapter 23: The Jailbreak Rebellion

**Author's Note: Wow, summer vacation is almost here. At least I'll have enough time to write more fanfiction. But let's focus on the present for now. Sorry for not updating in almost a whole week, but I was making a Hybrid Mystery Dungeon story. If you have time, you should check it out. It's really good, and I accept all OCs. Anyways, enjoy this action-packed chapter!**

* * *

Sally and Ruby looked at Carlos as if he had grown a second head. "Are you crazy!?" Sally said. "No one has ever tried to do a jailbreak in this prison. It's dangerous."

Carlos looked at her flatly. "A few minutes ago, we were eating pie. I really don't think that's dangerous." Sally nodded sheepishly in agreement.

"So what's your plan?" Ruby asked.

"Well, I think I should tell you when we're eating breakfast with Team Infinity," Carlos said. "Why them?" Sally asked curiously. "The thing is, they're friends with a lot of these prisoners, so they have connections. If we want to do this jailbreak right, then we're gonna need all the help we can get."

Ruby nodded in agreement. "You make a good point. It's late, anyway, so we should go to bed." With that said, the three pokémon went to their own wooden beds, where they drifted off to sleep.

**(Carlos: Get ready to see a bunch of different perspectives.)**

* * *

At the Wigglytuff Guild, everyone had just fallen asleep and were dreaming the night away... Everyone, except for five certain pokémon.

Darkfang, Anubis and Vixi were careful on their way to the door, in order to prevent the other three from waking up. As soon as they got out, they went to the main room, where they met Piplup and Chimchar.

"Do you guys have money?" Darkfang asked. Piplup looked into his treasure bag to count the poké he had with him. "We have 1,500 pokè to spare."

Darkfang sighed in relief. "Good. Let's go," he said as he led them out of the guild and towards Treasure Town, where they arrived at the Kecleon Shop.

"Hello, can I help you?" Kecleon asked with a smile.

**(Piplup: Kecleon's brother is a heavy sleeper, so he's usually only awake in the morning and afternoon.)**

"Yeah. What items do you have for sale today?" Darkfang asked. Kecleon looked at his wares. "Okay, I have a heal seed, two apples, a reviver seed, a yellow gummi, and 12 iron thorns."

Darkfang turned to the other four. "So, what should we get?"

Chimchar thought for a moment. "Well, we're definitely going to need the iron thorns... the reviver seed would be useful, and an apple wouldn't hurt."

Darkfang nodded and turned back to Kecleon. "We'll take the iron thorns, the reviver seed and an apple."

"That'll be 1,000 poké," Kecleon said as he gave them the items. Piplup, in return, gave him the money and the five pokémon left with the items.

"Well, looks like we're on track," Anubis said merrily.

"I hope Carlos has good luck doing his part, too," Vixi said.

* * *

In the usual secluded canyon, Diancie was seen meditating. Suddenly, Manaphy came into the room, panting.

"Diancie, we have a major crisis!" she exclaimed. Diancie stopped her meditating to look at her ally. "What's the problem?"

"Carlos was thrown in jail, and Sherriff Magnezone plans to execute all of the prisoners tomorrow at midnight!" Manaphy replied. Diancie quickly got up. "What!?"

"You need to contact him in his dreams so you can warn him," Manaphy told her.

"No," Diancie said. "All of this trouble has caused Carlos enough pain. If Sharese is so set on capturing him, then there's no doubt that Carlos is indeed the Chosen One, and that he needs to hear the full truth."

Manaphy, however, still looked confused. "What are you saying?"

"I think it's about time that I met Carlos in person," Diancie stated.

Manaphy gasped. "But you can't leave! What if you get caught?"

"Manaphy, don't worry. I'll be back soon," Diancie said, putting a hand on Manaphy's shoulder. "Now, it's going to take a while, since I need to follow Carlos around until he's alone. So I want you to tell Mew to take care of you all until I'm back," she told Manaphy before grabbing a satchel and leaving the cave.

* * *

"Whoa! Poor kid!" Darkburn said with the slightest bit of pity as he held a newspaper in his paws.

Evan looked over at what he was reading. "You're reading _The Soutaine Screamer_?" he asked incredulously.

"You're missing the big picture," Darkburn told him, pointing to a specific article. "Read this." Just at that moment, Sharese came into the room. Evan then took the paper from Darkburn and read the article headline out loud. "'Treasure Town Prisoners are to be Executed'!?"

Sharese looked at them in alarm. "What did you just say!?"

Evan showed her the paper. "It says here that the Treasure Town prison has had many criminals that were found guilty of murder. When Carlos was found guilty as well, Magnezone realized that almost all of the criminals have done unforgivable things, so to make room in the prison, he's going to suffocate them all in a gas chamber."

Sharese shook her head in disbelief. "No, no, no... this can't be happening..."

"Wait, why are you overreacting? I thought that killing the hero was our objective," Darkburn pointed out, "and now, we don't even have to do anything."

Sharese angrily fired a shock wave at Darkburn. "You idiot! We need to keep him alive! Those were our orders!"

Darkburn, who was still dazed by the attack, widened his eyes in shock. "Uh oh..."

"Ugh! Can't you bozos do anything right!?" Sharese yelled.

"Excuse me? Wasn't it YOUR little stunt that got Carlos arrested in the first place!?" Evan yelled back. Sharese actually lowered her guard. Evan was right. Because of a reckless antic of hers, their plan was falling apart.

She knew what she had to do. "Guys, wait here," she said, grabbing her satchel.

"Where are you going?" Darkburn asked. "To go fix my mistake," Sharese replied without looking back as she left.

* * *

Carlos woke up feeling refreshed. However, he was still reeling from what he heard yesterday. When he got up, he saw that his cell door was wide open, with two Magnemite floating there.

"BZZT! DID YOU WAKE UP EARLY TO GO TO THE GYM?" they asked. Carlos' ears perked up. Going to the gym could get him experience and possibly bring his level up, and he was going to need all the strength he could get if his plan was to work.

"Yeah, where is the gym?" he asked.

* * *

The two magnemite then led Carlos to another room in the prison, where he saw various prisoners working out by lifting weights, running on treadmills, using pull up bars and a bunch of other equipment that Carlos couldn't name.

He looked around to see what he wanted to try when he saw Kevin lifting a large 50-lb weight, and Blake sitting next to him while lifting small 20-lb weights.

"Hey, guys," Carlos said, causing the two to take notice of him.

"Hey," they both greeted nonchalantly. Carlos was confused by their behavior, but quickly realized why. "Oh... Blake told you guys yesterday?"

Kevin nodded as he got off the bench press and went over to a punching bag. "It's not fair! I mean, can't he just ship excess outlaws somewhere else!?" he said, punching the bag harder with every word he spoke. "Almost all of these outlaws didn't even do anything!" That sentence gave Carlos the missing idea that he needed for his jailbreak plan.

"Guys, I just had the greatest idea ever!" Carlos said, beginning to do a few push ups.

Blake and Kevin looked curious. "What idea?" Kevin asked.

"You'll find out at lunch," Carlos said.

* * *

The rest of the morning went by fast. Blake had even helped Carlos with the mining labor. Soon, it was time for lunch.

"All right, it's now or never," Carlos thought as he got on a table, much to the confusion of his friends. "Everyone, may I have your attention?" Everyone promptly looked at Carlos, waiting for him to speak.

"Um... as you all know, Magnezone is fed up by the excess pokémon that are here, so... he's planning on killing us all," Carlos said sadly. Any happy vibes that were there were immediately extinguished.

A flareon raised his paw to speak.

"Yeah?" Carlos asked, pointing to the flareon.

"This is definitely irrelevant to your point, but I would just like to point out that the magnemite evolutionary line is genderless," the flareon said.

"... anyways, I think I have a plan. But I need all of you to cooperate," Carlos explained to them.

The prisoners all looked at each other, then looked at Carlos disapprovingly while shaking their heads.

Carlos sighed. "Okay... maybe I need to be a little more empathetic... if you were brought here without a fair trial, raise your, uh... appendages."

To everyone's surprise, everyone's hand or paw went up.

"Now do you all understand?" Carlos asked rhetorically. "We're all the same. Thrown in here without a chance to prove ourselves. And, with the plan I have, we can get that chance. Now, I know that barely any of you know me, but you have to trust me. Are we just gonna stand here until were executed!? I think not! No, we're gonna stand up to them! Were gonna spark a rebellion for our freedom!"

"Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!" the other prisoners began chanting.

"All right, let's keep ourselves pumped and I'll tell you all the plan at dinner!" Carlos announced. Everyone cheered and went back to what they were doing, with a much more lively attitude.

Carlos then got off the table and sat down. "Well, I think that the first part of the escape plan is a success."

"What exactly is the plan you have in mind?" Hailey asked.

"You'll find out during dinner," Carlos replied.

* * *

After time in the prison yard, the prisoners had gathered around Carlos to hear his ideas.

"Thank you all for giving me your attention," Carlo said, "now it's time to get down to business. So, here's the first step: disarming the traps..."

* * *

By 11:00, every prisoner had been filled in on Carlos' plan, and they were all willing to cooperate.

"All right, Carlos, it's 11:00. You're up," Sally said. Right at that moment, a magnemite entered the room and approached the cell that Carlos was in. Blake was right behind him.

"CARLOS! YOU AND BLAKE HAVE VISITORS!" the magnemite buzzed. Carlos and Blake were led to the room that Carlos was at before, where he once again saw Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi and Team Poképals.

As the magnemite left the room, the others got down to business.

"All right, what did you get?" Carlos asked.

"We got 12 iron thorns, an apple, and a reviver seed," Chimchar said.

"All right! Piplup, you know what to do," Carlos said. Piplup nodded, grabbing an iron thorn. He then threw it at the glass window, shattering it into smithereens.

The magnemite came back into the room to see what had happened, but everything was natural, much to its confusion as it floated back outside.

"Ha ha! Nice job with that illusion, Vixi!" Carlos said as Vixi dropped her illusion, revealing the shattered window. "All right. Time for step 2."

Vixi then concentrated her power on Blake, successfully disguising him as a poochyena. He, Anubis, Vixi and Team Poképals left for the other door, leaving the items, while Carlos and Darkfang waited in the room.

* * *

Once the other five pokemon were out, they stealthily made their way to the main room, while guarding Vixi to prevent the illusion from dropping.

"This feels weird," Blake said as they carefully opened the main room's door.

Inside, they saw many control panels, along with confiscated items.

"Hey! Here's Felix's zinc band, and Kevin's two black bands!" Blake said, picking up the aforementioned items.

"Here's Carlos' treasure bag and wonder map!" Anubis said, giving them to Blake once Vixi dropped the illusion. "Make sure he gets them."

Blake nodded before turning his attention towards the control panel. He pressed a bunch of different buttons and entered some codes before the screen lit up.

"Okay. I've hacked the mainframe firewall. Now the alarms can't sound," Blake said. "Time for step 3. I'll give Carlos and Darkfang the signal." He then began to flip a switch up and down repeatedly.

* * *

A minute after waiting in the chat room, Carlos and Darkfang saw that the room's lights were repeatedly turning on and off.

"That's the signal. Let's go," Darkfang said. The magnemite from before came into the room, but it was quickly taken out with a spark from Carlos and a tackle from Darkfang. They headed into the prison cell room, where they picked the locks on each of the prison cells until all of the prisoners were free.

"All right! Let's rumble!" Carlos shouted to all the prisoners.

"YEAH!" they all screamed as everyone barged into the mess hall. It had gotten the attention of a bunch of magnemite, but they were no match for the rampaging prisoners.

* * *

After the metal slaughter in the mess hall, which was now quite literally a mess, the prisoners, led by Carlos, Sally, Ruby and Darkfang, had arrived at the prison yard, where the fence was the only thing between them and freedom.

Blake and the others had emerged from another entrance, along with Blake's team. Blake went over to Carlos and handed him his treasure bag.

"Awesome! Thanks, man!" Carlos said, happily hugging his treasure bag.

"No prob," Blake said. He turned to the rest of the prisoners. "Now let's go clear our names!"

"YEAH!" the prisoners yelled. Suddenly, an electric fence appeared, separating Carlos and Blake from the rest of the prisoners.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an enraged Magnezone emerged.

"I... HAVE DEDICATED... MY WHOLE LIFE... INTO APPREHENDING OUTLAWS... AND MY INTEGRITY... WILL NOT BE LOST... TO 2 PUNY MEDDLERS!" he shouted, blasting a thunder shock in their direction.

**(Carlos: So far, I don't know what was more stupid. The fact that the Sherriff still knew thunder shock, or the fact that he did nothing to prevent the use of our moves when we were in prison.)**

Carlos and Blake braced themselves for the hit, but star-shaped projectiles blocked it. When they opened their eyes upon realizing that they weren't hit, they saw something - or someONE - that made their blood boil.

"You," Blake said with venom in this tone.

"What are you doing here!?" Carlos demanded.

"Look, as much as you both hate me," Sharese said, pointing to Magnezone, who was now charging at them, "we need to work together if we're gonna beat THAT."

Eventually, Carlos and Blake agreed to the proposition before the three of them dodged Magnezone's attack.

**BOSS FIGHT #9: Sherriff Magnezone**

**[_Pokémon Heartgold And Soulsilver: Team Rocket Battle_ music]**

Carlos didn't have many options in this fight. Tackling wouldn't do much good, spark wouldn't be that effective, leer probably wouldn't matter with his high defense, and there was no WAY he was biting a piece of metal.

Sharese ran over to him while dodging a magnet bomb that Magnezone threw. "Carlos, just throw items at him, and don't be afraid to get too close to him. Face it, you could pretty much tank at least three of his attacks."

Carlos looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"His moves are sonicboom, thunder shock, magnet bomb and flash cannon. You're resistant to the last three, and sonicboom is pretty much worthless," Sharese explained, firing a swift at Magnezone.

"Got it. Thanks... I think," Carlos said, pulling out his iron thorns and throwing three of them at Magnezone, landing direct hits on him.

Blake hit Magnezone with a dual chop, but was blown back by a flash cannon.

"Dang steel types..." he muttered, rolling out of the way of another flash cannon and slashing Magnezone in his eye. Magnezone reeled back from the attack.

"Now's our chance! Hit him with your strongest moves when I weaken him!" Sharese said, hitting Magnezone on the head with an iron tail, lowering his defense. Carlos hit him with a spark, knocking him over to Blake, who grabbed him and threw him to Sharese with fling. Sharese then charged up another iron tail and hit Magnezone so hard that he was sent flying all the way back to Treasure Town. Shortly after, the electric fence disappeared.

Everyone stared at the sky where they last saw Magnezone. "Wow," Carlos said, "now that's what I call a home run. Am I right, Sharese?" When he looked back to Sharese, she was nowhere to be seen. All he saw was a reviver seed with a note. He picked it up and read:

_Safe travels. -S_

Carlos shook his head. _"Jeez, who's side is she on?"_

* * *

**Author's Note: Ha ha, plot twist! And I refuse to say more! See you next time, where we uncover what I consider to be the biggest plot twist in the whole story. The title will probably spoil it, though. See ya!**


	27. Chapter 24: The Lovely Dragoness

**Author's Note: Like I said, the title kind of says it all... sort of. Prepare for one of the biggest plot twists in this whole fanfic. It'll blow your mind. By the way, as a little gift, I'm updating all of my stories today - even the Spyro fanfic - to celebrate the last day of school. They might be at different times, though. Enjoy!**

* * *

At the Wigglytuff Guild, dinner was very quiet. Nobody wanted to say anything because they were all too heartbroken over Carlos' betrayal. Without any playful remarks, dinner had become a very boring experience.

Suddenly, a loud thud from above echoed throughout the room.

"What was that!?" Chatot shrieked.

"Sounds like it came from right outside of the guild," Dusty said. The pokémon all got up from their dinner and went to the guild's exterior, and they were shocked by what they saw.

"Sherriff Magnezone! What happened!?" Chatot said upon seeing the burnt betas form.

"BZZ...ZZT. IT...IT WAS...CARLOS...HE LED A...LED A...JAILBREAK," Magnezone said weakly. "AND HE TURNED DARKFANG, ANUBIS, VIXI AND TEAM POKÉPALS."

At hearing this, Hazel's rage only grew. Not only did Carlos lie to her and stab his team in the back, but now innocent pokémon were paying the price for his actions. And now he was turning her friends? This was unacceptable. "Okay, let's get to the prison and give Carlos a piece of our minds!" Hazel shouted. Everyone was surprised by Hazel's sudden outburst, but they agreed nonetheless. So they all ran towards the Treasure Town Prison in hopes of teaching Carlos a lesson.

* * *

With Magnezone out of the way, the prisoners were finally free as they approached the fence in an attempt to knock it over.

"STOP!" Carlos yelled suddenly, causing the prisoners to stop in a panic. He closed his eyes for a second and felt his fur stand on end. "... do you feel that?"

All the prisoners looked at each other in confusion.

"Wait! I do feel something!" a jolteon piped up.

"So do I!" a galvantula agreed.

_"That's odd... why are only the electric types feeling it?"_ Carlos wondered. Then it hit him. "That's it! Magnezone knew we would try to escape, so he electrified the fence!"

"But how are we gonna get out if we can't touch it?" Ruby asked.

"Wrong. If all of the ground types work together, then they can absorb the electricity and we can break down the fence," Carlos announced.

"I'm up," Felix said as he, along with a graveler, rhydon and seismitoad approached the fencing.

"All right, guys," Carlos said, "on the count of three, you're all going to bash through the fence, penetrating its electricity and knocking it down. Okay?" The four ground types nodded. "All right... three... two... one!"

The four ground types grabbed the fence by its holes, allowing the electricity to course into their bodies. After about a minute, the fence was completely destroyed.

"We're free!" Carlos said as the prisoners cheered. "You know, this wouldn't have been possible without you all, and I just wanna say-"

"Um, if you're gonna say something, then can you make it short!?" Blake said, pointing behind Carlos. Everyone turned there and saw everyone in the Wigglytuff Guild charging right at them. However, they all noticed one small aspect.

They were all staring dead at Carlos, and they were NOT happy.

"Carlos, you're so dead!" Hazel yelled. Carlos glared at her as she glared back. There was nothing he wanted to do more than give her a piece of his mind, but he knew that the guild had the power advantage.

"RUN!" Carlos yelled. The outlaws needed no signal from the shiny pokémon as they dispersed instantly, including Blake's team.

"Good luck with clearing your name!" Blake shouted before his team fled.

"So... what do we do now?" Sally asked Ruby.

"I say we stick with Carlos. He'll definitely need all the help he can get," Ruby said.

**_Ruby and Sally have joined the party!_**

"Wow... thanks," Carlos said with a smile. He then turned to the other five friends. "What about you guys?"

"Well, we're officially known as traitors to the guild, so is it okay if we all travel with you three?" Piplup asked.

_**Darkfang, Anubis and Vixi have rejoined the party!**_

_**Team Poképals has joined the party!**_

"Of course it is," Carlos said while taking note of the other guild pokémon getting closer. They were about 50 feet away. "Okay, I think we should get running now," Darkfang suggested nervously. The team of eight agreed and took off, being led by Carlos, with the guild in hot pursuit.

* * *

Carlos, Ruby, Sally, Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Piplup and Chimchar had been running for the last 20 minutes, and were beginning to show signs of fatigue. Their pursuers, however, were all still raring to go.

"M-Man," Carlos said while trying to catch his breath, "h-how m-much longer... can they... r-run?"

"I... d-don't know... but... but we need a break!" Darkfang replied, exasperated as well. The fugitive pokémon were about to give up hope when Carlos noticed something. "Hey... look at that cave," he said, motioning towards a cave on the side of their path. Unfortunately, it was about 200 feet away.

"No! We can't go in there!" Piplup said quickly.

"Why not!? It might be our only chance to hide from these guys!" Sally protested.

"Because, that's Serpent Cave!" Piplup retorted. "Haven't you ever heard the rumors?" Everyone shook their heads, except for Chimchar.

Piplup sighed, which was hard to do while running. "Serpent Cave is a six floor mystery dungeon. Pokémon have said that at the end of the dungeon, a dragon pokémon lies in wait of travelers, preferably males."

"What? Why males?" Darkfang asked.

"Because," Piplup continued, "the dragon type pokémon is said to be a female. It's also said that she's absolutely stunning. Anyway, if a male traveler was to be confronted by her, then she would use attract to ensnare them to ensure that they fall in love with her. After that, she'd toy with their emotions for a few minutes - an hour at best - before she passes them on to her clan, where they eat the helplessly lovesick traveler."

"Can you say your point in less words, please?" Anubis asked.

Piplup sighed. "No pokémon who's gone in that cave has ever made it out alive!"

"Piplup's right. It's too dangerous," Chimchar agreed. Carlos saw that they were a measly 20 feet away from the cave. "Then how about this: you guys hide in the cave's entrance while I stay here and catch my breath to let the guild catch up with me. When they're close, I'll run into the dungeon and they'll follow me, completely ignoring you guys. And since it's dark outside, it'll be hard to see you. Deal?" They were currently passing the cave.

"Fine," Piplup said reluctantly as they all made a sharp turn to the cave while Carlos stopped to catch his breath.

"Look! Carlos stopped! GET HIM!" Hazel yelled.

"YEAH!" the others shouted.

Carlos then took that time to run into the cave.

* * *

When he was in, he looked around. The cave looked like any other, but there were a few puddles and bits of moss on the cave floor. He had to be careful not to slip.

"Carlos!" Chimchar whispered. Carlos heard him and went to their hiding place, which was a large rock.

"What is it?" Carlos asked hastily, worried that the guild pokémon would catch his friends.

"Are you sure you want to go alone? I mean, you might have to end up fighting Hazel," Chimchar warned.

Carlos thought for a moment. He decided to pick two pokémon to go with him, in case he would actually have to confront his friends. He knew exactly who to pick. "Okay, I pick Piplup and Chimchar. Now let's go before the guild catches up," he said, leading Team Poképals to the mystery dungeon's entrance while the other five stayed behind and hid as they heard the fast approaching footsteps of the guild pokémon.

* * *

The guild pokémon had just arrived at the entrance of the cave, but they had stopped and looked at each other nervously.

"What are we waiting for!? Carlos is in there, let's get him already!" Hazel said angrily.

Everyone in the guild shook their heads. "There's no WAY I'm going in THERE! That's Serpent Cave!" Loudred said fearfully.

"Hey, hey, Loudred has a point! It's said that a scary dragoness is at the end!" Corphish agreed.

**(Hazel: *sighs* These pokémon just don't understand my pain. I had to hunt down Carlos, no matter what.)**

"Fine. Dusty, Katty, let's go," Hazel said, storming into the cave. Dusty and Katty looked at each other before reluctantly following Hazel into the cave.

* * *

**Serpent Cave**

**B1F** \- On the first floor, Carlos, Piplup and Chimchar were running for their lives and down corridors, when a dratini blocked the corridor that led to the stairs.

"Move it!" Carlos shouted hastily, defeating the dragon type with a quick spark. He then led Team Poképals up the stairs.

**B2F** \- On the second floor, Piplup was standing on the stairs.

"No time for funny remarks!" Carlos said as they all went up.

**B3F** \- The third floor spawned them with three dratini. "Hurry up and beat them!" Piplup said. He knocked one out with a fury attack, while Chimchar hit another with a flame wheel and Carlos finished the last one off with a bite.

"Now come on!" Carlos said. The three pokémon found the stairs.

**B4F** \- On the fourth floor, they spawned in the same room as the stairs, along with another dratini.

"I got it!" Chimchar said, blasting it with an ember and quickly knocking it out.

"Wow. Chimchar, that was impressive," Carlos said. Chimchar smiled. "Thanks. Is that why you chose me to help you out?"

"Well..." Carlos said sheepishly, "it was mostly because your tail flame gave away your hiding spot... but you're still an awesome battler."

"Oh..." was all that Chimchar said as the three ascended the stairs.

**B5F** \- On the fifth floor, they spawned in a room that two seeds.

"What do these do?" Carlos asked, picking the two seeds up. Piplup took a closer look at them. "These are both dough seeds. If you eat them, then poké appears all over the place."

"Well, I'll save them for later. For now, we have to run!" Carlos said. They went to the next room, where they found the stairs.

**B6F** \- On the sixth floor, the group of three were ambushed by a dratini that attacked Piplup with a twister.

"Aren't there any other pokémon in this dungeon!?" Piplup asked as he hit the dratini with a peck.

"Well, it IS called Serpent Cave for a reason, I guess," Carlos said, hitting it with a spark, knocking it out. After walking a while, they came into a room that consisted of two dratini, a violent seed, and the stairs. Carlos hit one of the dratini with spark while getting the violent seed and Piplup pecked at the other one. When they were done, they went up the stairs.

* * *

"Well, here we are," Carlos said as they arrived at the end of the dungeon, where the cave still expanded. He looked around. "See, guys? No dragon in sight."

"Oh. I guess the rumors were false," Piplup muttered.

"AHA!" someone shouted from behind them. They turned around and saw Hazel, Dusty and Katty taking stances and glaring at Carlos.

"Uh oh! Looks like there's no escape!" Piplup said worriedly.

"Looks like we're gonna have to fight," Chimchar said as they took their own battle stances.

"Okay, I want you guys to handle Dusty and Katty. I want to take down Hazel on my own," Carlos said, growling at the aforementioned pokémon, who growled back. Dusty, Katty, Piplup and Chimchar, knowing the intensity of the situation, went to another area to battle.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to all the innocent pokémon you harmed," Hazel said darkly.

"Bring it on!" Carlos said, baring his fangs.

**BOSS FIGHT #10: Hazel**

**[_Final Fantasy IV: Four Emperors Battle_ music]**

Hazel took a deep breath and blew out a fire spin, which Carlos was able to dodge. He ran over and bit her foreleg as hard as he could, causing Hazel to scream in pain.

She was able to shake him off, though. "Hmph. Even your fighting style is low down," she taunted.

Angry, Carlos charged up blue electricity in his body and slammed into Hazel with a spark, dealing a large amount of damage and even paralyzing her.

"Take this!" Hazel said as she somehow dispelled the paralysis and shot a purple flame at Carlos, burning him.

"Gah!" Carlos said as the burn began to diminish his health. Hazel looked down at him as he fell to the ground and smirked. "How do you like my will-o-wisp? It's very hot, isn't it? Well, looks like this is the end of the line for you." Hazel then began to charge up another fire spin when Dusty and Katty had been blown next to her, making her stop her attack.

"Guys, what happened!?" Hazel asked worriedly. Before she could get an answer, a twister suddenly appeared and knocked them all out, causing their badges to teleport them back outside of the cave.

Piplup and Chimchar soon appeared and gasped upon seeing Carlos in his burnt condition. They quickly got out an oran and rawst berry from their treasure bag and healed Carlos.

"Thanks, guys," Carlos said, getting up, "and thanks for defeating them."

Team Poképals looked confused. "We didn't do anything..." Chimchar said. Carlos looked at him. "What? But who did?"

"I don't know. What do you think, Piplup?" Chimchar asked. Piplup, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"What the-" Carlos said, looking at the spot where Piplup was standing a moment ago. "Chimchar, what could - oh, come on!" Carlos complained as he saw that Chimchar had disappeared as well.

Suddenly, he felt something hit him in the head, instantly knocking him out.

* * *

Hazel awoke back at the guild. She looked around and saw that Dusty and Katty were sleeping beside her.

She looked in front of her and saw scrambled eggs on a plate.

Hazel sighed to herself. _"Well, if I'm going to bring Carlos to justice, then I guess it'll take a good dinner and a good night's sleep,"_ she thought before lying back down.

* * *

Carlos woke up groggily, and he was apparently sitting. He tried to stretch, but he found that he was immobile. He looked down and saw that something pink was wrapped around his body, leaving only his head exposed. He wanted to struggle against the odd pink rope... but at the same time, he didn't want to. It was just so warm... something about the feeling was just so... _welcoming._

"Ah, I see that you're awake," someone said in a feminine voice behind Carlos, so he assumed that the pokémon who was talking was female. He tried to turn around, but the pink rope thing held him in place.

"Aw, can't see? Well I already know how to help you see," the voice said slyly. Suddenly, Carlos felt the warm pink rope spin him around, until he was face to face with another pokemon.

This pokémon, now that Carlos had seen her, was also a dratini, but it had distinctive features. First of all, instead of periwinkle fur, the dragoness had soft, pink skin. Also, her eyes were a deep purple color, the moonlight of the cave giving them a beautiful gleam. Carlos stared at her in awe.

The dragoness smiled. "There. That's better, isn't it? Now you can see," she said, moving her head closer to Carlos' and making him blush, "and I can tell that you like what you see."

_"I see,"_ Carlos thought. _"So, this must be the dragoness that Piplup was talking about. And this thing that's wrapped around my body... it must be her own body. Wow, she's so beautiful... so pretty... so soft... such beautiful eyes..."_

The dragoness chuckled. "My, you certainly think well of me."

Carlos was confused by what she meant. "Wait, how are you-"

"Knowing exactly what your thinking?" the dragoness finished. "Just a skill I've picked up from my past. But enough about me. I'm just DYING to know your name. What is it?"

Carlos said nothing. He didn't feel comfortable with giving his name to a stranger - especially one with a feared reputation.

**(Carlos: There is no way I was giving her my name. A name is only one word, but letting yours fall into the wrong hands could speed major disaster.)**

The dragoness slowly nodded to herself. "Oh, you must be playing it safe. No problem, I'll just go first. My name is Nova. What's yours?"

Carlos still didn't respond.

Nova was confused. The shinx clearly wasn't scared of her, so why wasn't he responding? Then, a devious idea came to her head. "Oh, I think I see the real problem. You must be shy! Well, I can fix that!"

Nova then got closer and began to affectionately nuzzle Carlos, who was blushing furiously at this point.

**(Carlos: Have you ever been in a moment where you've had to do something stupid to prevent your, um... "desires" from taking control of your actions? Well, honestly, this was one of those situations.)**

"It's Carlos," Carlos said, knowing that it was too much.

Nova stopped nuzzling him and smiled. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Carlos didn't exactly feel too happy about the way that Nova got information out of him. In reality, he thought that she was pretty, even without attract.

"Look, um... can I ask you something?" Carlos asked her.

"Of course, what is it?" Nova asked.

"Why do you seduce males like this?" Carlos asked.

Nova sighed. "Well, you see how this mystery dungeon only has dratini? Well, those dratini are part of the Dragon Clan, and I'm their leader. You see, every successful leader needs a mate, so I've been trying to seduce males into marrying me. But I've become so desperate that I began to try males outside my age group."

"Outside your age group? How old are you?" Carlos asked.

"I'm 15," Nova replied.

Carlos blushed again. "Really? So am I!"

"Well, I'm sorry for trapping you and your friends here," Nova said, beginning to uncoil herself from Carlos. "I'll just leave you alone."

"Wait!" Carlos said, stopping Nova in her tracks. "You don't have to apologize or leave. You were simply excited for new love. But still, forcing others to love you isn't the right thing to do. You need to find someone who loves you for who you are. Like me."

Nova perked up and looked at Carlos. "You... you love me for me?"

"Well, let's find out," Carlos said. They both looked into each other's eyes for a second before closing them, leaning towards each other and locking lips. When they touched, it gave them both a warm sensation.

After a full minute, they broke the kiss and stared at each other again.

"I love you," Carlos said.

"I love you too," Nova said.

"By the way, my friends are hiding at the dungeon entrance. Could we get them?" Carlos asked

"I'll do you one better," Nova said, "I'll send some dratini to escort them. In the meantime, I can take you to your two friends and we can all get to know each other."

"Sure, but can you go ahead? There's something I have to do first," Carlos said. Nova nodded in understanding and slithered a few yards away from him.

Carlos took off his power band. The one that Hazel gave him. He took the bronze explorer badge and took a good look at the power band. Memories of him and Hazel reappeared. The time he stood up to Coal. Their first exploration. Battling Team Ember. The kiss they shared at Fogbound Lake.

Carlos glared upon remembering that particular memory. He couldn't believe that Hazel would kiss him like that, only to stab him in the back in mere minutes.

Nova slithered over to him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, it's nothing," Carlos said, not wanting to go into detail.

"It's okay, I can see your mind, remember?" Nova said. "So, this 'Hazel'... is she your friend?"

Carlos shook his head, putting the power band in his bag. "No. Not anymore."

"I see. Well. Let's go to my hideaway," Nova said, taking Carlos to a a seemingly dead end. She then pressed a few spots on the wall, which caused it to glow, revealing a hidden chamber.

"Come on in," Nova said as she and Carlos went inside the chamber, where they saw Piplup and Chimchar tied up.

"Carlos, that's the dragoness! Save yourself!" Piplup shouted desperately.

"Wait, I'm sorry!" Nova said, afraid of what Team Poképals would do. Carlos went over to them and untied the rope.

"Get her!" Chimchar yelled as he and Piplup attempted to attack Nova. Carlos held them back. "Guys, please stop!" he pleaded.

"No! She's a monster!" Piplup said as he and Chimchar got closer to the terrified shiny dratini.

"She's not a monster, she's my girlfriend! Her name is Nova and I love her!" Carlos blurted out desperately. Piplup and Chimchar stopped and looked back at Carlos in pure shock. Even Nova.

"... what?" Chimchar asked slowly.

Carlos sighed, knowing that it would be hard to understand. "Look... you were right about the whole 'seducing males' thing, but she doesn't mean to torture them, and I'm sure that her clan doesn't eat them. Even if she did, she can change. I know she can! Just give her a chance!"

Piplup and Chimchar looked at each other hesitantly before sighing in defeat. "Okay. If you say she's changed, then we believe you," Piplup said.

Nova slithered over to Carlos. "What you said about us being boyfriend and girlfriend... it's not exactly true..."

"Oh," Carlos said. "Well, then let me try again. Nova, will you be my girlfriend?"

Nova had never been so moved in her entire life. She had spent it trying to force others into loving her, but the boy in front of her loved her for who she is. "My answer is... yes. I would love to be your girlfriend."

She and Carlos then embraced in a hug, which completely moved Team Poképals. Chimchar then remembered something. "Just... promise you won't use attract on us."

Nova looked at him strangely. "Attract? I don't know that move."

"Oh. I guess the rumors were wrong," Piplup said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, Nova."

"It's okay. First impressions can say a lot," Nova said. "Sorry for tying you up."

"That's okay, too," Chimchar said.

"Um, Carlos?" Nova asked as she coiled herself around Carlos' stomach with her head held up and slightly above his. "Is it okay if I travel with you like this? Without water, it's hard to move."

Carlos smiled. "Of course. Anything for my girlfriend."

_**Nova has joined the party!**_

"Aww, you're the best," Nova said playfully. "Oh, while your other friends are escorted here, can you walk over to my kitchen? I'm going to prepare us all some food." Carlos nodded and went to the chamber's kitchen area.

While Nova was cooking, Carlos took out the power band that Hazel made him and looked at it again. Memories came back to him again.

He shook his head. _"I have a girlfriend that cares about me. I've moved on. I'm done with you, Hazel,"_ Carlos thought before taking the band and ripping it in half, completely destroying any hope he had with Hazel.

* * *

At the same time, as Diancie was floating over a forest in search of Carlos, she felt a twinge of pain in her heart.

"Oh, no," Diancie said sorrowfully. "The Chosen One. His heart... it has been shattered."

* * *

**Author's Note: Ta-da! To celebrate the end of school, I uploaded a REALLY long chapter, which unfortunately had a very tragic ending. But no matter. See you all on the next chapter!**


	28. Chapter 25: The Lost Princess

**Author's Note: Ahh... nothing like a soothing vacation to melt away stress. Well, time to relax with another chapter. Enjoy!**

* * *

Carlos, Nova, Piplup, Chimchar, Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Ruby and Sally were currently seated at a dining table in Nova's secret chamber. Nova was coiled around Carlos for better mobility, and everyone was looking at them oddly.

"Um... did we miss something?" Sally asked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you guys!" Carlos said as he and Nova happily nuzzled each other. "Me and Nova are officially a couple."

"Aww, young love is so cute," Ruby gushed.

"Wait... How exactly did you all get into this mess?" Nova asked.

"It's actually a really long story," Carlos said. He then told her everything that had happened to him in the past three days. His friends' betrayal, being thrown in jail, meeting Blake's team, learning of the massacre, leading a jailbreak, up until running into Serpent Cave to hide from his former allies.

Nova was having a hard time taking all of it in. "Whoa... that all happened to you?"

Carlos nodded. Nova glared at the floor. "Ooh, if that Vulpix was still here, I'd constrict the life out of her!"

Everyone stared at Nova, who looked away sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm really defensive."

"It's okay," Carlos told her. "I just wish that I could end these rumors. I'm tired of having to hurt innocent pokémon to survive."

"I know how you feel," Ruby said. "Hurting pokémon is never a good experience. It's too bad that everyone in Wesali thinks you're a criminal, though." That caused an idea to pop into Carlos' head. "Wait, I've got it!"

Everyone looked at him, waiting to hear what he had in mind. "We should all go to Wesali to clear my name!" he said, causing everyone in the room to falter, which confused him. "Why all the negativity?"

"Don't you know that you're public enemy number one in their eyes!?" Sally said. "If you set foot in their town, then they'll rip you to shreds!"

"She's right," Vixi said. "It's too dangerous."

"Guys, you're missing the big picture here!" Carlos told them all. "Sharese may have fooled them, but she forgot one vital aspect." Carlos then took a wanted poster out of his treasure bag and showed it to them. "Look at her hind paws. They're yellow! Everyone knows that a male shinx's hind paws aren't yellow, they're black!"

"So... what are you saying?" Chimchar asked.

"I'm saying... we need to go to Wesali to make things right," Carlos said.

"But..." Piplup tried to interject, not wanting to become an enemy of the place he called home, "can't we go to Treasure Town and-"

"NO!" Carlos yelled at him, causing Piplup to flinch in fear. Carlos sighed. "I-I'm sorry, it's just... I've been under a lot of stress lately. We can't go to Trasure Town. I bet everyone there thinks that we're traitors."

"So... we're never going back?" Anubis asked, genuinely serious.

"No, of course we're going back," Carlos said, "but for now, we have to rely on the people we can trust. We're basically on our own."

"You're not alone, sweetie. You've got me and the Dragonstrike Clan," Nova said sweetly.

Carlos smiled. "I know. But now, we have to go to Wesali. Is there any possible way that we can get there unnoticed, Nova?"

Nova thought for a moment. Then, she got an idea. "Well, there's a mystery dungeon that we can take. But it'll only get us close to Wesali."

"That's okay. The important thing is that we get out of here before someone finds us," Carlos replied. "So where is it?"

"It's behind that crate," Nova said, pulling Carlos towards a crate. Anubis and Darkfang helped him push it, and it revealed a passageway that was big enough for all of them.

"This is the entrance," Nova said.

"Right. Let's go, everyone," Carlos said as he led them into the mystery dungeon.

* * *

**Underground Pass**

**1F** \- As it turned out, not having a power band anymore had taken a serious toll on Carlos' strength, seeing as he was almost knocked out by a drilbur that had spawned with them.

"Man, I wish I still had a power band," Carlos said as he dodged an attack from a diglett. Nova finished it by firing a dragon rage at it.

"Well, for now, you've got a lot of backup, so don't sweat it, kid," Darkfang said as he bit a sandshrew. After a bit more walking, they found the stairs.

**2F** \- On the second floor, the nine pokémon spawned in the same room as a drilbur. It tried to scratch Carlos, but Nova used her tail to throw a twister, instantly knocking it out.

**(Carlos: Just so you know, Nova is still taking a ride coiled around my stomach. In fact, she always is. Doesn't bother me, though...)**

"Thanks," Carlos said.

"Any time," Nova said with a smile as they all proceeded to the next room, where they saw a yellow object shaped like a bean. Carlos went over to pick it up.

"What on earth is this?" Carlos asked, looking at the strange object.

"Oh, that's a gummi!" Nova said.

"They taste differently, depending on what color they are," Ruby added. "Basically, your type depends on how the gummi tastes."

"Oh? So, what type prefers this gummi?" Carlos asked, holding up the yellow gummi.

"Electric types. In this case, you," Ruby said.

"Huh. Well, I'll save this for later, in that case," Carlos said as he stuffed the yellow gummi in his treasure bag. They all proceeded to the next corridor, where they found the stairs after Carlos hit an aron with spark.

**3F** \- On the third floor, they all spawned right next to the stairs.

**4F** \- On the fourth floor, Anubis instantly defeated another aron with a force palm. As everyone went to the next room, Carlos picked up 176 poké and a trawl orb.

"Ooh, what does this orb do?" Carlos asked.

Nova looked at it. "That's a trawl orb. It'll pull all items on the floor next to you."

"Cool. Wait, that gives me a great idea!" Carlos said as they reached the room with the stairs. He then reached into his treasure bag and pulled out the a dough seed, eating it.

"So, what's your idea?" Anubis asked.

"You'll see," Carlos said with a smile as he led everyone upstairs.

**5F** \- When they reached the fifth floor, there were a bunch of coins scattered around the chamber they were in. Conveniently, the stairs were right next to them.

"All right, let the fun begin!" Carlos said as he used the trawl orb he picked up, causing the whole chamber to overflow with poké and some other items. After collecting all of it, Carlos led everyone up the stairs while counting the money he had obtained.

**6F** \- "2,468 poké and a trap scarf! Awesome!" Carlos said, putting the items and poké in the treasure bag.

"Wait, aren't you going to put on the trap scarf?" Vixi asked.

"It'll help you see traps," Sally added.

"No thanks. Believe me I wouldn't set off any traps," Carlos said. He then spotted the stairs in the next chamber. As soon as he told everyone to go towards them, he stepped foot onto a warp trap, which startled him and caused Nova to shriek. The next thing he knew, he and Nova were right next to the stairs.

Carlos looked at Nova. "I... meant... to do that."

Nova glared at him and used her tail to pull out the trap scarf from the treasure bag, holding it up to his face. "Put it on."

Carlos sighed and tied the red trap scarf around his neck. "Okay," he said, going up the stairs.

* * *

Everyone came up to a chamber in the cave that was a lot brighter than the others. They looked around, but there wasn't much to look at. The only light sources were a diminished amount of moonlight that came from up ahead, and Chimchar's tail flame, but they were still able to see each other clearly. There was also a tiny layer of water at their feet, which allowed Nova to uncling herself from Carlos and travel freely.

"Phew! That was a pretty annoying dungeon," Carlos remarked.

"Agreed. I could barely see anything!" Darkfang said.

"Thank goodness we had Chimchar's flame," Piplup said, patting his best friend on the back.

"H-Hello? Is... Is anyone there?" a shaky voice asked. The nine pokémon looked around. Carlos' eyes eventually set on a large rock. "Guys, I think that voice came from that rock."

"P-Please stop... d-don't hurt me, I didn't mean t-to d-disturb you all!" the voice said with a distressed tone. "W-Wait a minute... you, shinx, please step over here. I want to see you better."

Carlos confusedly, but willingly, stepped towards the rock. He heard the voice gasp. "It IS you!" it yelled, causing everyone to back away slightly. All of a sudden, Carlos was tackled and pinned to the ground by something. When he looked up, he saw a pokémon. It had yellow skin, a peach leaf on its head, peach buds in the shape of a necklace, crimson red eyes, a small yellow tail, and four short yellow legs with single nails on each as toes. Carlos assumed that the pokémon was a female. The pokémon glared down at Carlos.

"You are in SO much trouble!" the pokémon yelled, continuing to glare at him.

"Um... who are you and why are you pinning me down?" Carlos asked innocently.

"You jerk! You SHOULD know who I am! I am Princess Lily of Wesali!" the pokémon, who was called Lily, shouted at him.

Carlos was confused at first, but then quickly realized the situation. "Look, I didn't do anything, so-"

"SHUT UP!" Lily screamed, throwing Carlos, who was caught by Chimchar and Piplup. "YOU KILLED MY FATHER! AND NOW YOU'RE GOING TO PAY!"

"I don't want to fight," Carlos stated bluntly.

"TOO BAD, BECAUSE I DO!" Lily shouted. She then ran at Carlos and tackled him with full force. He didn't try to dodge, but he wedged his paws to the ground to prevent himself from getting blasted away from any attacks.

Lily then waved her head leaf from side to side, firing peach colored leaves at Carlos, who made no attempt to dodge.

"What is he doing?" Vixi asked, confused as to why Carlos wasn't attacking or dodging.

Darkfang smiled. "Typical Carlos. He never attacks pokémon without a reason."

Lily, however, was growing aggravated with Carlos. "You idiot! Fight me!"

Carlos shook his head. "I have no reason to attack you, so I won't."

"No! Fight me this instant!" Lily said as she hit Carlos with another razor leaf. Carlos, however, did not move a muscle.

Lily then ran up to Carlos and began to hit him and kick him as tears began to form in her eyes. "Fight back... please... just... fight... me..." Finally, she couldn't muster any more strength and wrapped her forelegs around Carlos' neck, crying into his fur, which shocked everyone. Carlos reluctantly hugged her reassuringly.

**(Darkfang: Worst. Fight. Ever.)**

Lily looked up at Carlos after a minute. "I-I'm sorry," she said before she raised her peach leaf and used synthesis to heal Carlos.

"It's okay," Carlos told her. "You were just attacking out of anger. But seriously, I didn't kill your father."

Lily stared at him sternly. "Promise?"

"Cross my heart," Carlos said. Lily sighed and sat down. "Then I don't get it. If you didn't attack my father, then who did?"

"Wow. For a princess, you're not very bright," another voice said. Everyone looked around, confused yet again, but Carlos, Darkfang, Anubis and Vixi glared, knowing exactly who the voice was.

"Where are you!?" Carlos demanded. After he finished talking, a familiar pokémon jumped from the ceiling and in front of Carlos, Lily and Nova. The rest were blown back by the impact off he landing.

"Finally, you decide to show your face," Carlos said, glaring coldly at Sharese, who was smirking.

"Who is she?" Lily and Nova asked in unison.

"Oh, so you don't know?" Sharese said coolly as she walked closer to them. "I'm the one who killed King Herberus of Wesali!" Upon hearing the confession, Nova and Lily glared at Sharese as well.

"My father was a good man! How could you kill him!?" Lily demanded.

"And why did you help me back at the prison!?" Carlos also demanded. Sharese chuckled to herself before stomping the ground, causing electric shackles to ensnare them all.

She then walked over to Carlos. "It's because I don't want you dead."

Carlos was confused. "What are you talking about? I thought that you were evil. I was told that all evil was set on killing me."

"Well, not me," Sharese said, stroking Carlos' fur sweetly. "Everyone else wants to kill you. I simply want to help you."

"Uh... come again?" Carlos asked, confused as to what Sharese meant by 'help'.

"I want you to join me," Sharese said innocently, which shocked Carlos and everyone else. Sharese laughed softly. "Don't act surprised. I've been watching you, and I have seen everything that the universe has made you endure. Not chosen for the expedition, getting kissed by your former crush, only to have her stab you in the back, almost getting killed by the Sheriff. Don't you see? We're both alike. The world has treated us both like garbage. But... if you join me, then we can create our own world. And people like us will never be pushed around. We will be feared by everyone! So please... join me."

"Nice try, Sharese! There's no way I'm joining evil!" Carlos shouted. Sherese then nodded and stomped, releasing the binds that held Carlos, Nova and Lily.

"Well then..." Shares said, "it looks like I have to resort to violence!"

**BOSS FIGHT #11: Sharese (2nd)**

**[_Pokémon Diamond And Pearl: Galactic Commander Battle_ music]**

Sharese fired a shock wave in Carlos' direction, but he was able to jump to the side at the last second. He looked over to Nova and Lily. "Lily, are you sure you want to fight?"

Lily nodded with determination. "Definitely! I want to show the world that I'm more than just a princess!"

"In that case, don't worry. We're all resistant to electricity," Carlos said just as Sharese fired a swift at them. Nova retaliated by slipping through the the water quickly and hitting Sharese with a slam.

"Now you're gonna get it!" Sharese said as she slammed into Nova with a take down, causing her to slide back to Carlos and Lily. Sharese, however, had suffered from recoil damage. She then attempted to ram Nova again with take down, but Lily cast a pink shield that blocked her attack.

"Cool, you know reflect?" Carlos asked in astonishment. Lily nodded. "It's helped me a lot." After the reflect faded, Carlos tackled Sharese.

She got back up and fired a swift at them, knocking them back a few feet. Everyone else was cheering Carlos, Nova and Lily on.

"You can do it!" Vixi cheered.

"Show her what the Wigglytuff Guild's made of!" Piplup encouraged.

Lily got back up and fired a razor leaf at Sharese, who gritted her teeth in pain. Her health was dangerously low. Nova fired a dragon rage at her, but she dodged it easily and used take down on Carlos.

"That's it!" Carlos said as he ate a blast seed from his bag and spat it back out at Sharese, who fell. She was able to get back up, however.

"No, THIS is it!" Sharese shouted as she hit Carlos with one final take down. Carlos felt his energy go away and his vision began to fade to black. Just when it seemed like he was unconscious, he felt a vibrating sensation, and he could see again, just in time to witness Nova defeating Sharese with a dragon rage.

Sharese got back up and growled. "Don't think I won't be back!" she said as she broke an escape orb and disappeared as the shackles holding the others suddenly disappeared.

They all ran over to Carlos. "Are you okay?" Nova asked.

"Yeah, I think," Carlos said, rubbing his head. "What happened?"

"When Sharese used take down on you, she managed to make you faint," Sally said.

"You must have been revived by a reviver seed," Piplup said, taking note of the shriveled up seed in front of Carlos, who looked at it oddly. "That's a reviver seed?"

"It WAS, but since it's used, it turned into a plain seed, which doesn't have much use," Piplup said as he kicked it away.

"Right," Carlos said. He then turned to Lily. "See? She impersonated me in order to frame me."

Lily looked down. "You're right. Forgive me for my hasty assumption."

Carlos smiled. "It's okay. But... what exactly are you doing here?"

"Well, my mother wouldn't let me leave my room because she said it was too dangerous, so I snuck out the window in hopes of finding the murderer," Lily explained.

"Oh. Well, we'll get her next time for sure. After all, you're a pretty good fighter," Carlos said, causing Lily to blush slightly.

"Thank you," she said courteously.

"All right, let's get out of here," Carlos said, leading everyone to the moon's light, where the cave exit was located.

_**Lily joined the party!**_

* * *

Once they were out of the cave, they saw a desert.

"Oh, I forgot," Lily said. "In order to get to Wesali, we need to pass this mystery dungeon first."

Everyone groaned, being tired of the large amount of time that had passed since any of them had fallen asleep. However, something caught Nova's attention. As she coiled around Carlos again for mobility, she raised her head and saw some kind of hole that led to some kind of door, which had lights coming out of it. "Guys, what's that?" she asked. Everyone went over to the hole she pointed to and looked at the door.

Lily's eyes widened. "So this is where they are..."

"What are you talking about?" Darkfang asked.

"My parents have been talking about how some residents have been sneaking out of Wesali to go to some fight club," Lily explained.

"So this must be the fight club," Carlos finished for her.

"Well, well, well, look who it is," someone said from behind them. They turned around and saw Evan smirking at them. "Looks like it's time for me to-"

"Let me stop you right there," Carlos said, which slightly shocked Evan. "Look. I am not in the mood to fight, and you are constantly trying to hunt me down. Let's face it, this is screwed up. For both of us. So why don't we all relax and watch fights in a fight club?"

Evan looked at him for a moment. "... will there be bukkits?"

"Sure, why not?" Carlos said.

"Deal. But we fight after we leave," Evan said.

"Works for me," Carlos agreed. The ten of them then proceeded downstairs, where the arena waited for them.

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, and I hope that everyone had a great 4th of July. To make it up, here are the stats. By the way, I'll try to update every Saturday:**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 23 Tackle/Roar/Bite/Spark**

**Nova (dratini) - Level 22 Wrap/Thunder Wave/Slam/Dragon Rage**

**Darkfang (poochyena) - Level 20 Tackle/Bite/Swagger/Roar**

**Anubis (riolu) - Level 18 Feint/Endure/Force Palm/Rock Smash**

**Vixi (zorua) - Level 17 Fury Swipes/Feint Attack/Pursuit/Fake Tears**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 19 Scratch/Fake Out/Feint Attack/Hypnosis**

**Sally (sneasel) - Level 18 Fury Swipes/Icy Wind/Feint Attack/Quick Attack**

**Piplup - Level 25 Fury Attack/Bubblebeam/Peck/Bide**

**Chimchar - Level 25 Fury Swipes/Ember/Flame Wheel/Torment**


	29. Chapter 26: Fight Club

**Author's Note: I am really sorry that this chapter is so late. I'm a huge procrastinator, and I've made a new fanfic. But at least this chapter is ready right now. Hope you like it, because it's gonna be a lot of fighting... sort of.**

* * *

The ten pokémon opened the gates, where they were met by two machoke guards that were standing in front of the gates.

"What is your business here?" one of them asked.

Carlos decided to answer. "We are tired explorers who want to see entertainment."

The machoke looked at each other for a second. "Very well. You may enter," the second one said as they both stepped to the side and pushed open the gates.

* * *

When they walked in, they were amazed at what they saw. The place had a design of neon colors and black, and there were multiple areas with many different places to go, so they decided that they would split up.

"I'll take Vixi and Lily to the gift shop," Ruby said as the three of them walked under the pink gate that was labeled 'Gift Shop'.

"Anubis and I are going to the snack stand," Chimchar said as he and Anubis headed to a cart that had many different foods.

"Well, I guess that leaves us to go enjoy the fights," Carlos said to Nova, Piplup, Darkfang, and Evan. They all headed towards the main gate, where they saw many pokémon seated around a large wrestling ring.

They took their seats in a front row to watch the fight that was going on between a primeape and another pokémon that Carlos was unfamiliar with. It appeared to be a bipedal bird with red wing with green undersides that resembled a cape. It also had small clawed hands, red feathers on its chest, white feathers on its abdominal area and yellow feet. It had a face that resembled a green mask with an orange stripe, along with three orange appendages on its head that kind of resembled a mohawk, in Carlos' opinion. It also had orange rings around its eyes, which were completely black except for yellow irises. Lastly, it had a small red beak with a patch of white feathers under it.

"Awesome, they're hosting a match with Raptor!" Evan said in excitement.

Carlos looked at the winged pokémon. "So that pokémon's name is Raptor?" Evan looked at him. "Yeah, he's a hawlucha. You may not have heard of him, since he's one of the new pokémon that have migrated here."

"So, he's popular?" Carlos asked.

"Well, he's a powerful wrestler. In fact, look at him right now," Evan said, pointing towards the rings. Raptor had just tackled the primeape, knocking the wind out of him. The primeape then attempted to hit Raptor with a karate chop, but he countered with his own karate chop. Raptor then unexpectedly hit the primeape with an aerial ace, knocking him back. Raptor decided to end the fight by grabbing the primeape's ankle and flinging him out of the ring as he landed on the ground with a thud.

A bell sounded, and a sawk wearing a referee costume walked up to the middle of the ring. "And the winner of this match is Raptor the hawlucha!" The audience then began cheering and chanting Raptor's name.

"Thank you! Thank you for the praise, my fans!" Raptor said through the microphone in a brawny Latin accent.

Evan suddenly got an idea as he scooted past the audience and hopped onto the ring, much to everyone's shock. He went to wards the referee and whispered something to him. The referee nodded. "Okay, everyone! This zoroark here named Evan wishes to challenge a member from the audience! Now, who do you want to challenge?"

Carlos slapped his head. He knew exactly what was coming.

"I would like to challenge him!" Evan said, pointing right at Carlos, who was blinded by a spotlight aimed at him. Everyone in the audience then picked him up and carried him into the ring as well. He looked around nervously.

"Oh, a shiny! What's your name, kid?" the ref asked, holding the microphone towards Carlos.

"Uh... It's Carlos..." he said hesitantly.

Unbeknownst to everyone, Raptor was staring at Carlos, wide eyed. _"Wait... Isn't he the one who killed the king of Wesali!?"_

"Great, then! You'll be facing off against Evan!" the ref announced.

Carlos smiled and glared determinedly at Evan. "All right, then. Looking forward to it!" The truth was, Carlos wasn't looking forward to it at all. He had been completely awake and on the run for at least 20 hours. But there was no way that he was going to chicken out of a fight, especially not when a bunch of pokémon were watching.

"Great!" the ref said optimistically. He then turned to Raptor. "Well, I'll get you an escort to take you to-" Raptor held his hand up to stop the ref from talking. "Thank you, but I would actually like to see this fight for myself," he said before leaping out of the ring and perching himself onto a turnbuckle.

Carlos and Evan went to two different corners of the ring, taking their battle stances, and the ref stood just outside of the ring. "Let the match begin!" A bell sounded in the ring, and Carlos and Evan ran at each other.

**BOSS FIGHT #12: Evan (3rd)**

**[_Kingdom Hearts II: The 13th Struggle_ music]**

Carlos was able to hit Evan right in the chest with a spark, knocking him back a few feet. Evan attempted to slash at Carlos, but Carlos rolled out of the way in time. At that time, Ruby, Vixi, Lily, Chimchar and Anubis had arrived to the wrestling ring.

Chimchar then noticed Carlos and Evan battling. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Evan challenged Carlos to a fight, and now they're brawling," Piplup explained. They all sat down to see the outcome of the battle.

Carlos looked at Evan with a triumphant smile. "Ha! Same moves, same results!"

Evan smirked back at him. "Are you sure about that?" he asked as he created a large blue orb with his hands, much to Carlos' surprise. He then threw the orb at Carlos, dealing major damage to him.

"How'd you like my focus blast?" Evan taunted as Carlos got back up.

_"Man. Without my power band, I can barely even make a dent,"_ Carlos thought. He then ran at Evan quickly and tackled him in the gut. Evan retaliated by knocking Carlos away with a night slash.

Carlos struggled to get back up. "Hey, Carlos. Have you ever heard the expression 'Kill it with fire'?" Evan asked tauntingly. Carlos' eyes widened, realizing what Evan was about to do as he jumped out of the way of a powerful flamethrower. Carlos then bit Evan as hard as he could, causing Evan to flinch. Carlos took the opportunity to hit Evan with another spark, which knocked him back AND paralyzed him. However, he was still up.

"Take THIS!" he shouted as he blasted another flamethrower right at Carlos, who was hit directly . He roared in retaliation, launching Evan to the ropes, which pushed him back.

"This match is OVER!" Carlos declared as he ran just as quickly as Evan and scored a final direct hit with spark, sending Evan to the ground in defeat.

The ref approached Carlos and held his paw up in victory. "And the winner of this match is Carlos!" Everyone in the audience cheered. Even Evan, who was quick to get back up. Raptor simply crossed his arms and walked away.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a golett was seen watching TV. The golett's eyes were green instead of yellow, he wore a red cape, had a black muscle band as a mask, and instead of a spiral, he had a gear symbol on his chest.

"Ooh, the arena fights are on!" he said as he changed to a channel that showed a shiny shiny and a zoroark brawling.

_The shinx then ran at the zoroark quickly and tackled him in the gut. The zoroark retaliated retaliated by knocking the zoroark away with a night slash._

"Hmm... why does that shinx look so familiar?" the golett wondered.

_The shinx struggled to get back up. "Hey, Carlos. Have you ever heard the expression 'Kill it with fire'?" the zoroark asked tauntingly._

The golett took a closer look at the shinx and gasped. "That's him! That's the shinx that killed the king!" He got up and went to a hole in the area he was in. He climbed up, and eventually reached the surface. He got out of the hole and covered it up with a tarp whose color looked exactly like the sand, but it had a gear symbol on it.

The golett looked into the distance and saw the fight club, which was a little far from where he was. "I hope this 'Carlos' is ready, because this comet is about to crash.

* * *

Carlos and Evan were taken to a rest area, where they were given oran berries to heal. Evan was given a cheri berry for his paralysis.

Evan smiled weakly at Carlos after eating the oran berry. "You're a pretty good battler, you know."

"No, no. YOU had me tensed up, with all your different moves, dude!" Carlos said cheerfully.

**(Carlos: Aside from always trying to kill me, Evan is actually a pretty cool guy to hang out with. Plus, he usually provides me with some good intel.)**

Carlos sighed as he took out his wanted poster and looked at it. "Man, being framed stinks!"

Evan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah... I'm kind of worried about Sharese... she's been going kind of crazy."

"Yeah, killing a king kinda gave it away," Carlos said sarcastically.

"Good point," Evan agreed. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get some more soda." As Evan left, Carlos saw that Raptor was walking towards him.

"Uh... hey. You're that fighter dude, right?" Carlos asked.

Raptor nodded. "Yes, I am. You are very perceptive. Just like a true criminal, hmm?" Carlos began to look around nervously. He had feared that someone would recognize him as a criminal. "Look, I was framed! I'm not a criminal!"

"Relax, I believe you," Raptor said. "The shinx on the poster is obviously a female."

"Finally! Someone who actually sees it!" Carlos said in relief.

Others may not, though, but I will not spoil your secret," Raptor said, "on one condition."

Carlos sighed. "What is it?"

"You must fight me in an epic battle in the ring!" Raptor declared, much to Carlos' annoyance. He had already gone through a lot without sleeping, but if it would shut the dude up, he'd do it.

"Fine," Carlos said groggily.

"Good. Then I shall see you in the ring," Raptor said, walking off with his arms crossed. Soon, Carlos' friends appeared. "Carlos, that was an awesome fight! I can see why you're considered as a threat," Piplup said.

"Yeah..." Carlos said, looking down.

"What's wrong, kid?" Darkfang asked.

"Well, I haven't slept in about 20 hours, and now I have to fight a brawny Latin wrestler!" Carlos complained. Nova slithered over to him and put a reassuring tail over his shoulder. "Carlos, it's okay. You managed to survive a lot of things... you took down a notorious criminal, braved the deserts for your friends, took on a primal legendary, and even led a jailbreak! You can do it."

Carlos yawned. "Yeah... I know I can do it if I try, but I'm just too tired right now..."

"Wait, so you're just tired?" Piplup asked. "Then I know just what you need! Follow me!" He then proceeded to lead everyone to the snack section of the facility.

"Here! This is what you need!" Piplup said, pointing at a pitcher that had a brown liquid in it.

"What is that?" Carlos asked.

"It's called coffee. Just drink some cups of it, and you'll have energy in no time!" Piplup said.

"That's a great idea, Piplup!" Chimchar said. "But how much does he need to drink?"

Piplup thought for a little bit. "Probably the whole jug." He handed the coffee pot to Carlos, who yawned before proceeding to drink the entire pot of coffee. When he was done, he appeared to be vibrating slightly.

"Um... are you okay, Carlos?" Nova asked with concern.

"Ofcourseimokaywhywouldntibeohmygodthiscoffeeissogoodwelligottagofightraptornowbyewishmeluck!" Carlos shouted before quickly running off to the arena.

"... I think it worked," Piplup said sheepishly.

* * *

All of Carlos' companions, including Evan, sat down in the audience, awaiting the next battle. Nova was holding onto Carlos' treasure bag while he battled.

Soon, the referee stood on the arena. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for one of the most amazing battles that has ever occurred in this arena!" The crowd roared in excitement.

"Standing in the right corner, we have the champ himself - Raptor!" the referee said. The crowd cheered as Raptor waved at them.

"And, standing in the left corner is a rising newcomer, Carlos!" the ref announced, sending the audience into louder cheers.

"3..." the ref said as the battle

"It looks like you have gotten quite a few fans. I hope they can bear to see your downfall," Raptor taunted.

"... 2..."

"Ha! I'm gonna wipe that feathery grin right off of your beak!" Carlos shot back.

"... 1..."

The two combatants took battle stances, preparing their most powerful moves for when the fight began.

All of a sudden, an explosion was heard throughout the entire area. Most of the audience began screaming and running to the other side of the room, while some got trapped under the rubble of the explosion.

"Oh no! Raptor, we've gotta help them!" Carlos said, jumping out of the ring and helping a mienshao out of the wreckage. Raptor followed by freeing two meditite. Soon, everyone was helping out.

"All right, is everyone okay?" Carlos asked once he was sure that everyone was out of the rubble. They all nodded.

"Wow. Now I feel bad for this club..." Lily said.

Raptor looked in the direction of the explosion. "How... how could this happen?"

"Because I did it!" a voice said. A figure then appeared from the direction of the explosion. It was a golett that had a black mask, green eyes, a red cape and a gear symbol on its stomach.

"Gears? You're the one responsible for this!?" Raptor asked in complete disbelief. "But why? I thought you loved the fight club!"

"I do. That's why I came here - so I could join the fight club after I deal with HIM!" Gears said, pointing right at Carlos.

"What are you talking about?" Anubis asked.

"You know exactly what I mean, little boy. He's a criminal!" Gears said. He then turned to Carlos. "You! I challenge you to a 1 vs 1 battle! Meet me at the bottom of Crash Pit!" With that said, Gears pulled out a smoke bomb and flooded the room with smoke. When it dissipated, he was nowhere to be seen.

"Um..." Carlos said awkwardly, turning to Raptor, "who was that?"

Raptor sighed. "It's a long story. You'd better sit down." Carlos, Nova, Piplup, Chimchar, Anubis, Vixi, Darkfang, Ruby, Sally and Evan took a seat.

Raptor sat down as well. "Gears... he was a peppy golett who loved to watch the fights on TV, and sometimes he even snuck out of his house to watch them in person. Once, he snuck backstage and talked to me about his dreams of being a fighter. His father, however, didn't approve, so he paid the Wrestling Foundation 50,000,000 poké to keep him from participating in rookie tournaments. This made him sadder and sadder until, one day, he just... disappeared."

"He just told Carlos to go to Crash Pit, so he must live there," Vixi said.

"I'll go with you, Carlos. If I can talk to him, then maybe he wouldn't challenge every pokémon he's seen," Raptor said.

"But he said it was a 1 on 1 fight," Sally said.

"True, but I can still traverse the dungeon with Carlos," Raptor argued.

"Uh, I'm not sure about this," Carlos said.

Raptor shot him a stern glare. "Well, are you sure about wanting to go through an 8-floor mystery dungeon full of ground types?"

Carlos remained silent. "Yeah, it'd be better if you tagged along."

**_Raptor joined the party!_**

Raptor smiled. "Good, now go get some rest. You're a mess. I'll give you an hour and a half so we can leave by 6:00 am."

Carlos nodded and headed to the bathroom, where he gathered some straw and fell asleep on the makeshift bed.

He heard a knock on the door. "Carlos? Don't sleep in there!" he heard Ruby's voice say.

Carlos got out of the bathroom and followed Ruby to a proper resting area, where there were luxury beds that looked like the ones that humans used.

"You can rest here. I'll stay and wake you up when it's time," Ruby said.

"Okay, but if I wasn't supposed to sleep there, then it shouldn't be called a 'rest room'," Carlos argued before falling asleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: Uh... wow. I'm not sure what to say here, but sorry again for being so late. With my other fanfics, my updates might be a little random, but I'll try to do once every week. That's all.**


	30. Chapter 27: A Chance For Redemption

**Author's Note: Okay, so I forgot to give the disclaimer last chapter, so here it is. I do not own Gears the golett, he belongs to Ckbrothers. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Carlos, wake up," Ruby said softly. Carlos woke up with a yawn. Even for just one hour of sleep, he felt completely refreshed.

"Thanks, Ruby," Carlos said, jumping off the bed and stretching for a few seconds.

Raptor soon entered the room. "Carlos, it's time. Let's go."

"Let's do this, then," Carlos said as he picked up his treasure bag and followed Raptor out of the fight club. His allies followed.

* * *

Everyone had arrived at a hole in the desert, which Raptor said Crash Pit was located.

Raptor looked at Carlos. "Are you ready for this?"

Carlos nodded with slight hesitance. He knew that Gears was part ground type, so he'd definitely have a ground type move to use against him. Also, this would be his first time fighting a tough pokémon without his friends, so he didn't know what to expect.

"We'll all be waiting right here for you," Nova said reassuringly.

"Okay. Here goes nothing," Carlos said as he and Raptor jumped into the hole.

* * *

**Crash Pit**

**B1F** \- Carlos and Raptor landed on the ground safely. They looked at their surroundings, noticing that the pit looked like a cavern, with sand covering the floor.

"Well, let's get going," Carlos said, leading the way into another room where they found a blue gummi and the stairs.

**B2F** \- Carlos and Raptor appeared in a room with an aron and a mawile.

"You handle the aron, and I'll fight the mawile," Carlos said. They both nodded and faced their respective opponents.

The Aron steeled its head and tried to ram into Raptor, but he glided over it and instantly defeated it with a karate chop.

Carlos, meanwhile, was able to land a hit on the mawile with spark, but it retaliated by biting Carlos with the jaws on its head. Carlos, however, recovered quickly and finished the fight off with a tackle.

"Are you okay?" Raptor asked, noticing the various bruises on Carlos.

"Yeah, I can walk it off," Carlos replied. As they entered the next room, they saw an x-eye seed, which they picked up. In the next room, they found the stairs.

**B3F** \- They spawned in the same room as a graveler. Luckily, the stairs were also right next to them.

**B4F** \- When Carlos and Raptor spawned into the room, they saw a yellow present in front of them.

"Uh... this is new," Carlos said. "Should we open it?"

Raptor shrugged. "Whatever's inside can't be that bad." Carlos agreed with him and opened the box, only to find five identical seeds and a note.

_Carlos and Raptor,_

_Here are 5 Pure Seeds for you to use. Eat one, and you'll instantly find the stairs. They should help you if you ever feel like not going through a dungeon floor._

_Yours truly, PS77._

"Wow... that's awfully nice of the author," Raptor said.

**(PS77: No, I'm not. I'm just tired of having to narrate all these floors.)**

"Well, we might as well use them," Raptor said. Carlos put four of the seeds in the treasure bag and ate one, which sent him instantly next to the stairs, along with a cranidos.

"Oh crud!" Carlos said, zooming down the stairs as the cranidos tried to headbutt him.

**B5F** \- Carlos noticed that Raptor had suddenly appeared next to him.

"Wha-? How did you do that?" Carlos asked in surprise. Raptor, however, looked around in confusion.

"Hmm. I just felt a tugging sensation, and I was suddenly pulled up here," Raptor explained.

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to stick together," Carlos said. They were so busy talking that it took them a while to see the stairs in the room they were in.

**B6F** \- A phanpy stood in the same room as them when they got down the stairs.

"Take this!" Carlos screamed, tackling the phanpy so hard that it was sent flying into the wall.

"Whoa," Raptor muttered.

"Sorry about that," Carlos said to Raptor, "but just the thought of my teammates makes me want to break something." As they continued into the next room, Carlos found a luminous orb. When he broke it, he was blinded for a second but suddenly had the entire floor memorized.

"The stairs are this way," he said, leading Raptor to a room on the other side of the floor while Raptor defeated the aron that tried to use metal claw on Carlos.

**B7F** \- Much to the two pokémons' relief, they were once again in the same room as the stairs.

**B8F** \- "All right, let's get through this last floor," Raptor said. Carlos nodded, and the two of them headed to the next room, where they saw a shieldon holding 137 poké. Raptor hit it with a karate chop, and Carlos followed up with a bite. After taking the poké, they proceeded to the next room, where the stairs were being guarded by a cranidos. It saw them and took a stance. All of a sudden, it's head glowed blue and it rammed into Raptor, who was sent flying back.

He got up painfully. "W... Watch out for its zen headbutt."

Carlos nodded and rolled to the side when the cranidos tried to hit him as well. He quickly followed up with a spark, successfully paralyzing it. A simple bite was able to finish the job from there.

"Well... looks like this is it," Carlos said as he and Raptor stood in front of the stairs.

"Don't worry. If things get out of hand, I'll go help," Raptor reassured him.

"So, did Gears' father ever feel bad about what he did?" Carlos asked out of the blue.

"Actually, he came back two months ago and told us to let Gears participate in the tournament. But Gears was long gone by then," Raptor explained.

"Huh. Interesting," Carlos said as he and Raptor descended the set of stairs.

* * *

Carlos and Raptor slowly tiptoed to a wall and hid behind it. Peeking around it, they saw Gears, who appeared to be talking to himself about something.

"Okay. I'll stay here and hold your treasure bag. Go out there and show him what you've got," Raptor whispered. Carlos nodded in agreement and handed him the treasure bag. He then slowly walked into view. Gears, however, had not noticed him yet.

"I don't understand it," Gears muttered to himself. "I buy the best gear and whip I can find, I train 24/7, and they _still_ don't accept me. What's the matter?"

"Um, probably the fact that you use a gear in wrestling," Carlos remarked, shaking his head. "That's just wrong."

Gears looked at Carlos. "Aha, so you finally made it! I bet if I take you down, I'll finally be able to join the fight club tournaments!"

"Or you could get a clue," Carlos said. "You're already allowed to join, your ban was lifted, dude." Gears looked at Carlos blankly for a moment before glaring at him. "Yeah, right! It's just like a villain to use deception! Well, I'm not falling for it!" He then took a battle stance.

Carlos sighed before taking his own battle stance. "Fine, whatever."

That caused Gears to get confused for a second. "Wait - you're not trying to deny it?"

"Why bother? At this point, you'll fight me no matter what," Carlos said flatly.

"Well... I guess you're right," Gears said after thinking about it for a bit. "All right, then let's do this!"

**BOSS FIGHT #13: Gears**

**[_Paper Mario 2: Rawk Hawk Battle_ music]**

Gears decided to begin the fight by throwing an oran berry at Carlos. It landed perfectly in front of him.

Carlos looked at the oran berry, and back at Gears. "Dude, seriously?"

"If I want to defeat you with my integrity intact, then you'll need to be healed up," Gears said, waiting for Carlos to eat the berry.

"Um... sure, I guess," Carlos said, reluctantly picking the berry up and eating it. "... Thanks, I guess..."

"Don't thank me yet, 'cause I'm about to bring the pain!" Gears said. He then concentrated as he formed a blue orb of energy around himself.

Carlos found it both weird and amusing. "Your idea of bringing pain is... using protect?"

Gears, however, simply took out his whip and swung it at a stalactite on the room's ceiling. "Hope you're not laughing now, because the Comet is crashing!" he said as he swung from his point and slammed right into Carlos, which also caused the protect to shatter.

Carlos got up painfully. He had to think of something fast. _"Man, that did a number on me. If he keeps it up, I might not survive. Let's see... he's a ghost type, so tackle and roar are out... spark won't affect him either... looks like my only choice is to bite!"_

Carlos waited as Gears' fist gained an ominous purple color. He then ran at Carlos and attempted to shadow punch him, but Carlos rolled under him and bit his leg.

"Ow!" Gears yelped, shaking Carlos off and quickly launching a mega punch at him. When Carlos got up, he felt both weak and disoriented. He tried to move properly, but he kept wobbling.

"Well, I figured that someone of your reputation would last longer, but looks like I'll have to wrap this up," Gears said. He then stomped on the ground and caused it to shake. It was too much for Carlos to handle, though, and he collapsed. Before passing out, though, he could have sworn that he heard the words 'Magnitude 9'.

Raptor had seen enough, however, as he ran out of his hiding spot. "Gears, that's enough!"

"Oh, Raptor! Are you here to congratulate me?" Gears asked hopefully.

"Will you drop it already!?" Raptor said, giving Carlos an oran berry. "We wanted you to be in the club for this whole time!"

Gears looked confused. "What? But why didn't you accept me?"

Raptor sighed. "It was your father. He paid the network to prevent you from fighting, but a couple of months ago, he lifted the ban. As for Carlos, he's not a criminal. He hasn't hurt any innocent pokémon at the fight club."

"Is... is that true?" Gears asked Carlos, who nodded. "Someone impersonated me in order to frame me for killing the king."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that," Gears said sadly. "And... sorry for attacking you."

"It's okay," Carlos said. "You're actually a really good fighter."

"So, now that we're all okay, do you think you can show us a way back to the surface?" Raptor asked.

"Yeah. Over here," Gears said, leading them to a hole. Getting the idea, they jumped in and slowly made their way to the ground.

_**Gears joined the party!**_

* * *

Meanwhile, it had been an hour since the others had seen Carlos and Raptor.

Nova looked in the hole again. "Is he here yet?"

"No, he and Raptor are still down there," Darkfang said, "just like the last 10 times you asked. Don't worry. Carlos is a pretty tough kid, I'm sure he can handle that golett."

Vixi suddenly noticed something in the sky. "Um... everyone-"

"Not now, Vixi. The grown-ups are talking," Darkfang said. "Anyways, like I was saying-"

"EVERYONE, LOOK UP!" Vixi screamed. Everyone looked at what Vixi was so worried about and their eyes widened. Their screams were muffled by the ear-splitting shriek.

* * *

Right at that moment, Carlos, Raptor and Gears emerged from a well-hidden hole.

Carlos looked around. "Where are we?"

"This is the other side of Wesali Desert," Gears said.

"What!? But I thought this would take us to the entrance!" Carlos yelled. Before Gears had a chance to voice his reasoning, an airship flew over to them. Three pancham and pawniard then surrounded Carlos.

"Ha! We finally got you!" the leading pancham said. He had a wooden shield and a steel sword.

"If you simply surrender and board our ship, no harm will come to you," a pawniard said.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. But first, I have a request," Carlos said.

"What would that be?" the leader asked.

"Can you take that airship to the entrance of Wesali Desert so I can get my friends?" Carlos requested.

The pancham though for a moment. "... Very well." With that said, the guards, along with Carlos, Gears and Raptor all tied up, boarded the airship and headed for the mystery dungeon's entrance.

"Men, you all watch the ship, and I'll watch this criminal," the leader said as he pointed at Carlos. The others nodded and took their positions on the ship.

Once they were far enough, the pancham undid the ropes that he used to tie Carlos up. "Just so you know, I know that you're not a criminal."

Carlos looked surprised. "Really?"

The pancham nodded. "You were framed by a female. I studied the security footage and saw that the hind paws weren't black. The name's Paul, by the way."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Paul. My name's Carlos," Carlos replied.

"Captain Paul, we've got a visual on the criminal's friends!" One of the pawniard shouted. Carlos and Paul looked over the edge of the ship and saw his friends being attacked by an aerodactyl.

"Oh no! We have to help them!" Carlos shouted.

"Men, lower us down to fight that pokémon," Paul ordered. As the ship was lowered to the ground, Carlos had noticed that all of his teammates were knocked out.

"You're going down, big bird!" Carlos yelled as he, Paul, Raptor and Gears jumped off the ship to battle the creature. It replied with a shriek.

**BOSS FIGHT #14: Aerodactyl**

**[_Pokémon X and Y: Wild Pokémon Battle_ music]**

Carlos ran at it to deal a spark, but the aerodactyl used agility to get away. It then used ancient power to send him staggering.

"I think it's too fast!" Carlos said worriedly.

"Nonsense!" Raptor said, attempting to use aerial ace on it. However, he achieved the same outcome.

"What are we gonna do?" Gears asked.

"Wait! I have an idea! Carlos, when you see a chance, attack it!" Paul said. He began to jump at the aerodactyl and slash at it. Carlos used this opportunity to use spark on it, also paralyzing it.

"Now! Everyone attack with full force!" Paul shouted. He used an arm thrust, Carlos used another spark, Raptor attacked with karate chop, and Gears used a shadow punch. With that, it finally went down.

**(Carlos: You know, sometimes I'm grateful that some boss fights are really easy.)**

Carlos instantly went to check on his friends. They were all still unconscious. "We need to help them!"

"Oh, I know! Let's bring them to the castle, our medic should be able to heal them," Paul said. So, the four of them brought them to the airship, and they all headed for Wesali.

* * *

The airship eventually docked in front of a palace. The guards got off first and carried Carlos' teammates on a stretcher as they entered the palace.

"Medic!" they shouted.

"Coming!" a voice said. A monferno came from another room, but he ended up falling. When he got back up, he noticed the fallen pokémon. "Quick, bring them to the infirmary!" They all then left to another room.

The queen merely sighed. _"That Lily - when will she learn to not sneak out?"_

Suddenly, the palace doors opened to reveal Paul walking in with Carlos. The queen glared really hard at him.

"YOU MURDERED MY HUSBAND, YOU KILLER!" she screeched. She tried to stomp on him, but Paul was holding her back. "Queen Ivy, just wait for a second!"

Carlos had to think of something. The queen would eventually free herself from Paul's grip.

All of a sudden, Carlos' vision turned white as soon as he came into contact with the wall.

* * *

_Evan was walking through the desert and away from the fight club, still eating a bag of popcorn._

_He suddenly stopped. "Aw, man! I forgot to tell Carlos to look in the castle sewers!"_

* * *

"Your Majesty, I have one last request before you kill me!" Carlos shouted, causing the entire room to go silent.

"What is it?" Ivy asked bitterly.

"May we please check in the sewage system for something?" Carlos asked. Ivy thought that it was a dumb request, but she figured that the sooner she agreed, the sooner she could kill him.

"Very well. Paul and I will accompany you," Ivy declared.

"So will we," Gears said as he and Raptor entered the palace. "We're wrestling pros."

"I see. Now, let us be on our way," Ivy said as she led them to a smelly room in the castle basement. When she opened the door, the five of them stepped into the sewers.

Ivy sighed. "Well, now we are here. You can now do as you-" All of a sudden, she froze up and stared at something with wide eyes.

"My queen, what's wrong?" Paul asked.

Ivy simply pointed in front of her. The other four looked there and gasped at what they saw.

There, in the middle of all the sewage, was the unconscious body of the king.

* * *

**Author's Note: And there you have it! Sorry if the boss fights seemed rushed, though. By the way, the monferno, whose name will be found out later, belongs to Ryu Taylor the Ferret. Also, I've hit the 15-chapter mark yet again, so here's the question:**

**Should the boss fights have music to them?**

**See you next time!**


	31. Chapter 28: The Invasion

**Author's Note: I'm back with a new chapter for you guys! Sorry for the slow updates, but writing two stories at a time is still pretty hard... Oh, and by the way, I put boss music in each of the fights. If you wanna go back to re read them, they're on Chapters 2, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Honey bunches!" Ivy exclaimed as she ran over to the king.

_"Honey bunches!?"_ the other four thought incredulously. The king groaned as he struggled to get up, even with Ivy's help.

"King Herb, you're alright!?" Paul asked, surprised.

Herb slowly nodded. "Of course. I was knocked into unconsciousness by a shinx."

Ivy glared at Carlos. "So, you think that sparing my hubby-wubby makes you any less of a criminal than you already are!?" However, Herb looked at Carlos and shook his head. "No, that is not the shinx that ambushed me. It was another... wait, why would you call me that!? There are others watching!"

"Oh. Sorry dear," Ivy said sheepishly. Her eyes suddenly grew wide. "Wait... do you mean to tell me that this shinx is not the one that was wanted for murder!?"

"No," Herb replied. "He didn't even murder me!"

"So... the dead meganium... It must have been a plushy filled with jam," Ivy concluded, feeling both guilty and dumbfounded. She looked at Carlos sadly. "Please forgive me, Carlos. I just assumed it was you."

"That's okay. You had your reasons," Carlos said.

"I knew it!" Paul said triumphantly.

"Wow. Um, sorry for pegging you for a villain," Gears said apologetically.

"I apologize for my misconception as well," Raptor said.

"Really, it's okay, guys," Carlos reassured. "I'm just glad that after 8 chapters of suffering, I've finally been proven innocent."

"The shinx that ambushed me, however, is still out there..." Herb said.

"Actually, I've encountered her a lot of times," Carlos told the king. "She's constantly tried to capture me for some reason, though..."

"Well, I shall see to it that your name is cleared," Ivy decided, "but for now, let's leave this foul place."

"Agreed," Herb said as the six of them made their way out of the sewers.

* * *

Nova woke up with her whole body aching. She lifted her head and looked around. She appeared to be in some sort of medical room, along with Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Chimchar, Piplup, Ruby, Sally, and Lily.

A monferno walked in, holding a basket of berries. "Oh. Yore awake," the monferno said.

"Wh-Where am I?" Nova asked. Just then, everyone else woke up and looked around, wondering the same thing as Nova.

"You're in Wesali's infirmary. I'm Kelvin, the royal healer," Kelvin said. He handed each of them one of the berries. "Eat those sitrus berries to heal your wounds." They each ate the berries, and one by one, they all healed.

"Thanks, dude," Darkfang said.

"Yeah, those berries sure hit the spot," Sally said with satisfaction.

"No problem, guys!" Kelvin said happily, walking off to another room. Soon after, Herb, Ivy, Carlos, Paul, Raptor and Gears arrived.

"Guys, are you okay?" Carlos asked his friends.

"Yeah. It takes more than an aerodactyl to knock us out," Anubis boasted.

"Forgive me, everyone," Ivy said. "If Carlos hadn't tried to come here, you would all be safe. But now I have realized the error I have made. He is most definitely NOT a criminal."

"Wait... so Carlos is innocent?" Nova asked hopefully.

Ivy nodded. "Yes, he is. And to apologize, I will let you stay in the castle as long as you need to."

"Carlos, you did it! You proved your innocence!" Nova exclaimed happily as the two of them shared a hug.

"As for the rest of Wesali, I will get ready to inform them of my return and tell them that you are innocent," Herb said. "And today is extra special, because it's our anniversary."

"Oh, you remembered!" Ivy said happily as she nuzzled Herb.

"Well, we should get ready to address our people, honey," Herb reminded.

"Of course," Ivy said as the two of them left to get ready to gather the pokémon of Wesali.

* * *

In ten minutes, the queen had set up a stage in front of the castle, where the citizens of Wesali gathered.

Ivy approached the center of the stage and brought out a microphone. "Greetings, faithful citizens. I have gathered you all here in order to discuss an important matter." The townsfolk turned to each other and murmured on their thoughts, until Ivy cleared her throat to get their attention. "Thank you. Now, I'm sure you're all aware of the rumors of my beloved King Herb being murdered by a shiny shinx. Well... I am here to put those rumors to rest."

At that moment, Carlos and Herb walked into view, causing the entire audience to gasp. Carlos took that time to look at the citizens. He noticed that they were mostly ground, grass and fire types, which made sense to him, given the fact that it was about 85 degrees in the town. "As you can all see, my husband is not dead. His death was faked by the shinx, who then had the gall to frame this poor boy here," Ivy said as she motioned over to Carlos. "Because of my hate and vengeful attitude, he has suffered through betrayal, prison, running for his life, and being forced to fight the ones he loves. So I would just like to say that I am truly sorry, Carlos." That earned a bunch of aw's from the crowd.

"Of course I forgive you," Carlos told her. "After all, you kind of did give me a chance to find the king."

"Thank you," Ivy said. "Now, I end this meeting, hoping that you all treat him with the same respect that I am-" She was cut off as an explosion echoed throughout Wesali. Everyone looked toward the castle and saw that a portion of the wall was apparently destroyed.

A pawniard ran out of the castle and collapsed in front of Ivy, Herb and Carlos. "C-Castle... bomb... t-they l-left you... a note..." the pawniard said, holding up a note before fainting. Herb picked up the note and read it aloud.

_Hey, Herbie. I see you've ignored my love letters. Well, no matter: I'm coming for you - ALL of you! Or, rather, my forces are!_

_\- Amalia_

"Everyone, flee to your houses! We're under attack by the Norlou forces!" Herb shouted. The Wesalian citizens then began to scramble to their houses in a panic, and the streets were deserted in less than a minute.

"Come. We must head back to defend the castle!" Herb said, running to the castle, along with Carlos and Ivy.

* * *

When they arrived, they saw that everyone, except for Carlos' friends and Kelvin, sprawled out across the floor.

"Kelvin, what happened here!?" Ivy asked in worry.

"While I was tending to Carlos' friends, a cannonball fell into the castle. It must have emitted an electric pulse that knocked out the guards," Kelvin said. "We're completely unguarded."

Ivy, however, had her attention glued to a petilil, who lay motionless at the other side of the room. "Lulu!" she cried as she ran over to the petilil and picked her up.

"Lulu!" Lily also screamed, running to check on the petilil as well.

Ivy walked over to Kelvin, while still holding Lulu. "Is she going to be okay?"

Kelvin looked at the petilil for a few second before nodding. "She might have a concussion, but she'll be fine."

"Oh dear," Ivy said as she began to cry. "What are we going to do? First, I accuse an innocent victim of murder, then our baby daughter has a concussion. And now, Amelia's forces are going to take you away..."

"No, they're not!" Carlos said. Ivy looked at him. "Your Majesty-"

"Carlos, just call me Ivy," Ivy said.

"Okay. Ivy, you helped me, so now it's my turn to help you," Carlos said. "Let me, Paul, Gears and Raptor be the front line of defense. Trust me, the four of us are really strong." The other three aforementioned pokémon nodded in agreement.

"Hmm... well, the Norlou forces are relatively small... okay then," Ivy agreed.

"Wait, I'll go with them," Kelvin said.

"Are you sure you want to?" Carlos asked.

"Of course," Kelvin said. "No matter how small their numbers are, you guys will need a healer. Besides, they're all ice types, so I hold a type advantage over them."

Carlos thought for a moment. "Good point. Okay, let's gather at Wesali's front gate." The five Pokémon were about to leave, but were stopped by Lily. "What are we supposed to do?"

"Help the other guards. Take them to the infirmary so I can heal them later," Kelvin said as he and the other left for Wesali's front gate.

* * *

"All right, we're here," Kelvin said as the five pokémon arrived. They could see an airship in the distance. "Is everyone ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Carlos replied.

"As am I," Raptor added.

"I'm ready to defend my King till death!" Paul declared.

"Let's drive these invaders away for good!" Gears said.

The airship stopped a few yards away from them, and three snover jumped out. "Here they come!" Kelvin said.

**WAVE BATTLE #1: Norlou Forces**

**[_Final Fantasy IV: Boss Battle_ music]**

**Wave 1 - Snover x 3**

One of the snover tried to spray powdered snow on Gears, but he dashed out of the way and nailed it with a mega punch. Kelvin quickly followed up with a flame wheel, which knocked out the snover.

The second snover, meanwhile, shot out a bunch of razor sharp leaves at Raptor, who didn't suffer much from the attack.

"Ha! Is that all you've got!?" Raptor shouted, gliding quickly and one-shotting the snover with an aerial ace.

"Two down, one to go!" Raptor said. However, the last snover instantly pelted Raptor with an icy wind, which froze his legs, slowing him down.

Carlos nailed the snover with a spark instantly. Although it didn't do much damage, it ended up paralyzing it.

"Everyone, strike now!" Carlos told them. He used spark again, Paul used his sword to do a slash, and Gears finished the job with a well-aimed shadow punch.

"All right!" Gears said in glee.

"Don't celebrate yet - here comes the second wave!" Kelvin announced as four vanillite departed from the ship.

**Wave 2 - Vanillite x 4**

Kelvin was easily able to beat a vanillite with a mere ember. Raptor, although being slowed down, was able to use a karate chop on another one. Carlos and Gears double teamed one with tackle and mega punch. Paul suddenly grabbed the last vanillite and swung him around in a circular pattern before throwing him to the ground, defeating it.

"Whoa... I think I just learned circle throw!" Paul exclaimed in happiness.

"Awesome! This is so easy!" Carlos said. Right after he stopped talking, two beartic jumped out of the airship.

"... I think I jinxed it," Carlos said awkwardly.

**Wave 3 - Beartic x 2**

"Ya think!?" Paul said as he narrowly dodged an aqua jet. He got back up and karate chopped the beartic. When it didn't faint, Carlos quickly assisted him by biting the beartic on the arm.

"Thanks," Paul said.

"No problem," Carlos said as they ran over to the other one, who got into a defensive stance as Gears hit it with a mega punch. That caused the beartic to become slightly disoriented as it wobbled around in confusion.

"Take THIS!" Kelvin shouted as nailed the beartic with a mach punch. Raptor followed with a karate chop, and Paul finished it by using a comet punch.

"Time to get serious!" Kelvin said as the airship unloaded two mamoswine.

**Wave 4 - Mamoswine x 2**

One of the mamoswine stomped on the ground and splattered mud onto everyone.

"Well, looks like my spark is useless..." Carlos groaned. Raptor tried to retaliate with an aerial ace, but it was able to blow him back with powder snow.

Carlos then decided to take a different approach as he stood up in front of the mamoswine. "Hey, ugly! I bet you can't even do anything except stumble with those ridiculously large tusks!" This aggravated it, as it prepared to charge. Then, in the blink of an eye, the mamoswine turned around and rammed straight into the other one, which was knocked out by the impact.

"I just learned Swagger!" Carlos said triumphantly. Raptor and Paul defeated the other one with a double karate chop before it could recover.

"Here you guys go," Kelvin said as he passed out Oran berries for everyone. "I hope you're all ready." They all looked up at the airship to see what pokémon would be used next.

A single glalie floated down.

"... That's it?" Carlos asked incredulously. All of a sudden, the glalie was surrounded in a multicolored swirl that rotated around it, slowly increasing in speed, until it emitted a blinding flash of white, forcing the others to cover their eyes. When the flash died down, they opened their eyes to see that the glalie had undergone a transformation.

"It... It mega evolved," Gears said in wonder.

Paul glared at it as he sheathed his sword and balled up his fists. "All the more reason to take it down!"

**Wave 5 - Mega Glalie x 1**

The mega glalie began by shooting ice shards at Gears. He had no time to dodge, so he used protect at the last second. He was barely able to avert getting impaled.

Raptor tried to swiftly glide over to the glalie and deliver a powerful karate chop and get away before it could hit him. Had his speed not been decreased, it would've worked. However, the glalie easily saw him and bit him with his fangs becoming as cold as ice. He then threw Raptor to the ground.

"Watch out for his ice fang!" Raptor said as he rolled away from an icy wind.

"Let's all draw his attacks so we can hit him one at a time!" Gears said. Everyone agreed to the plan, and Gears mega punched the mega evolved pokémon square in the eye. It then fired an icy cold blast of ice at Gears, who dove out of its range, leaving a thick patch of ice where it hit.

"What was that?" Carlos asked.

"Sheer cold. Whatever you do, make sure it doesn't hit you," Kelvin said. The glalie turned around and was about to hit Kelvin, when Carlos snuck up on it and tackled it from behind.

"I've got this one!" Paul said as he grabbed the mega glalie by the horn and used circle throw to hurl it to the ground.

"Time to end this invasion!" Raptor said as he suddenly jumped high and flew up above the glalie. His entire body then grew a white outline as he dove straight at it, knocking it out instantly.

"Raptor, that was awesome!" Gears yelled.

"It appears that I have finally learned flying press - the symbol of any hawlucha's strength," Raptor explained.

The glalie, reverted to normal, groaned as it floated back to the airship. "We must retreat! They are too powerful for us!" The airship then turned the other way and headed back to Norlou.

"Whew... now that was good training," Carlos said, exhausted from all the fighting.

"I'll say," Gears agreed. "That was intense."

"We should probably head back to the castle. The others might need our help," Kelvin suggested. The other four agreed, and they all ran back to the castle.

* * *

When they came back, they saw that the castle was being patched up by the few guards that weren't knocked out.

"Well, we did it. Wesali has driven the invasion away," Paul declared proudly.

The petilil from before went over to Carlos. "Thank you for the efforts that you and your team have gone through. I'm Lulu, Lily's adopted twin sister."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Lulu," Carlos said, "and helping Wesali was the least I could do after your mother cleared my name."

"So, how difficult was the invasion?" Nova asked curiously.

"Honestly, for an invasion, it was kind of pathetic," Carlos replied. "It all went down in five waves: three snover, four vanillite, two beartic, two mamoswine, and a mega glalie."

"Hmm... that _is_ a low rate... even for Norlou," Ivy said.

"She must have underestimated us, considering how she wiped out the whole royal guard," Herb said.

"What I don't understand is why she even sent troops. Didn't she think that the king was murdered?" Carlos wondered aloud.

"Believe me, you don't know her. Whenever she sees something that she wants, she stops at nothing to claim it for herself," Ivy told him. "Lunatics aside, you all did very good to defend against a whole army. Your skills are extraordinary, Carlos."

"Indeed, they are," someone said from behind the group. They all turned to the source of the voice, and everyone was shocked by who they saw. Especially Carlos.

Diancie smiled at him. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Chosen One."

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, we're nearing the end of this story arc, so I'll try to wrap it up before September ends. Once again, sorry for this lousy update schedule. I'll try to do better. Speaking of which, here are the levels.**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 26 Tackle/Swagger/Bite/Spark**

**Darkfang (poochyena) - Level 20 Tackle/Bite/Swagger/Roar**

**Anubis (riolu) - Level 19 Feint/Copycat/Force Palm/Rock Smash**

**Vixi (zorua) - Level 19 Fury Swipes/Feint Attack/Pursuit/Fake Tears**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 21 Fury Swipes/Fake Out/Feint Attack/Hypnosis**

**Sally (sneasel) - Level 20 Fury Swipes/Icy Wind/Feint Attack/Agility**

**Nova (dratini) - Level 24 Wrap/Thunder Wave/Slam/Dragon Rage**

**Raptor (hawlucha) - Level 28 Tackle/Karate Chop/Aerial Ace/Flying Press**

**Gears (golett) - Level 27 Mega Punch/Shadow Punch/Magnitude/Protect**

**Lily (chikorita) - Level 20 Tackle/Magical Leaf/Synthesis/Reflect**

**Lulu (petilil) - Level 18 Mega Drain/Growth/Leech Seed/Sleep Powder**

**Paul (pancham) - Level 26 Slash/Karate Chop/Comet Punch/Circle Throw**


	32. Chapter 29: The Start of a War

**Author's Note: Well, I'm back after a couple of weeks with another chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!**

* * *

Everyone stared at Diancie in shock. "Astounding," Herb said. "The legends of the mythical pokémon were true..."

"It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Chosen One," Diancie said, offering a handshake. Carlos, however, ran over to her and hugged her.

"I am so glad you're here! You wouldn't believe what I've gone through!" Carlos said shakily. Diancie merely patted him on the back. "I understand... and forgive me for not being there when you were in need of assistance."

"Hold on - Carlos, you know her!?" Darkfang asked in shock. The others were stunned as well.

Carlos nodded. "Yeah... she's been appearing in my dreams frequently. Sorry for not telling you guys sooner."

"Why was she in your dreams?" Piplup asked.

"Hmm... Perhaps this whole ordeal would be easier to discuss over something to eat," Herb suggested.

"That's alright," Diancie refused. "I wouldn't want to impose."

"We insist," Ivy said.

"... Well, I suppose I am quite famished... and you all do deserve an explanation... Very well, then," Diancie decided.

"I shall get the butlers to work at once. I'll only be a minute," Herb said as he walked away to the kitchen of the castle.

"Come. I shall escort you all to the waiting room," Ivy said as she led them all to a room in the castle that contained a plasma screen TV and a few sofas. She then left to check on Herb.

"Carlos," Diancie said after a while of silence, "should we tell them?"

The others seemed to be confused, but Carlos knew exactly what she was referring to. "... Yes. I trust them."

"What do you mean?" Chimchar asked.

Carlos sighed. "Everyone... I'm not really a pokémon. I'm a human."

Pickup and Chimchar instantly perked up at this.

The others were stunned. "What!? A human!?" Nova said in surprise.

"It's true," Diancie said. "I am the one who summoned him to this world. Are you all aware of the rumored evil that is approaching?" Everyone nodded. "Well, the prophecy that I am entrusted with states that a noble human would be able to stop the evil before it's too late. Carlos is that human."

Everyone stared at Carlos in awe. "Is that why he's shiny?" Vixi asked.

Diancie shook her head. "No, there's only a rare chance of that happening... he must've been lucky."

"... You were a human, too?" Piplup asked. Everyone looked at him.

"Wait... So you're a human!?" Carlos asked in disbelief.

Piplup nodded. "Yeah... It involved a time travel incident..."

"Time travel? I'm afraid I don't follow..." Carlos said in confusion.

"So you've never heard his story?" Diancie asked. Carlos shook his head.

"Well, it's a long one," Chimchar said. He then proceeded to tell them everything that has happened to him and Piplup. Meeting on the beach, forming a rescue team, and protecting the Time Gears. They mentioned how they thought Grovyle was a criminal and Dusknoir was a hero, when it was the other way around. They talked about how they and Grovyle were able to stop Temporal Tower from collapsing, and how Piplup and Grovyle were supposed to be wiped from existence, but Dialga gave him a second chance.

"Whoa," Carlos said, "that's amazing. So, why did Dialga go primal, anyway?"

"... It was all the work of Darkrai," Piplup said after a moment of silence.

"Who's Darkrai?" Carlos asked.

"Darkrai was one of the most evil pokémon in existence," Diancie replied. "He was bent on world domination, and he slaughtered everyone that stood in his way. Piplup and Chimchar, along with Cresselia - Darkrai's pure hearted twin - were able to stop him."

"So he's in custody now?" Carlos asked.

"No... He roams the pokémon world freely now, although his memory is supposedly erased," Diancie said with a sigh.

"Oh..." Carlos whispered in fear. Darkrai sounded like a very evil pokémon. But maybe his mind wasn't erased, and maybe he was the evil that Diancie had warned him about. He was about to ask her, when Herb and Ivy came back from the kitchen. They had serious faces and Herb was holding a letter. He gave it to Carlos.

"What's this?" Carlos asked him.

"It's a note that was delivered by Pelipper," Herb replied. "It must be from Treasure Town."

Carlos looked at the letter with skepticism before opening it up and reading it out loud.

_Carlos,_

_We know that you're in Wesali, and that they're somehow convinced that you're innocent, so here's the deal - if you come back to Treasure Town alone, then you will be put into custody and no further punishments will be charged against you. Write your reply on this paper and give it to Pelipper._

_Yours truly, Hazel._

Carlos glared at the paper. He got out a piece of charcoal and angrily wrote a quick response.

"Um... Carlos?" Darkfang said. Carlos ignored him and walked out of the palace and handed the letter to Pelipper, who took it and flew off.

A few seconds later, Carlos walked back into the waiting room with a determined look on his face.

"Let's discuss our plan over dinner," Carlos said. "This... means... war."

* * *

A few minutes later, Pelipper arrived at Treasure town, where the Wigglytuff guild and Team Destiny were waiting for him.

"Pelipper, did he reply?" Chatot asked.

"Well... I guess that's one way of putting it," Pelipper said awkwardly as he passed him the letter. Chatot tore it open and read it to himself. His eyes widened.

"What's wrong, Chatot?" Dusty asked as he looked at the letter. His eyes widened as well.

"So, what does the letter say?" Hazel asked with slight impatience.

Dusty turned to face her and Katty. "There's way too many M-rated words in there to tell you... But basically, he said no. And he also said he's coming here to beat us until we come back to our senses."

"Then it's a good thing we've got the exploration teams on our side!" Chatot said proudly. "I'll go get them." He then left to the guild, along with the other apprentices.

"Hmm," Wigglytuff said, deep in thought.

"Is something wrong, Guildmaster?" Katty asked.

"I just... This doesn't feel right," Wigglytuff said sadly. "I mean, we didn't even give Carlos a chance to explain himself.

"He doesn't have to! He's a criminal!" Hazel screamed, causing both Katty and Wigglytuff to flinch in shock.

Hazel suddenly realized what she had done. "I... I'm sorry, it's just - I just... I have to go," she said as she ran off sadly.

"Hazel used to be so friendly and chipper..." Wigglytuff mused.

"I guess she's still hurting because of Carlos," Katty told him.

"Well... We should go help Chatot," Wigglytuff said after a while.

"Good idea," Katty said as she and the Guildmaster went back to the guild to help with the assembly.

* * *

"WHAT!?" Herb and Ivy said in utter shock. As they were all eating dinner, Carlos told them about everything that had happened while they were in the kitchen.

"You're a h-human!?" Ivy asked.

"And you've been summoned by the legendary guardians to save the world!?" Herb continued.

"... Basically," Carlos replied.

Ivy looked down at her food sadly. "And to think... I was about to have our savior executed..."

"Your Highness, it's okay, I already forgave you," Carlos said reassuringly.

Ivy smiled. "I know..."

"So, Carlos," Herb said,trying to change the subject, "what did you say in your reply to that letter?"

Carlos put on a sheepish smile. "Well... Please don't get angry, but I kind of declared war against Treasure Town..."

Herb and Ivy looked at each other before nodding and looking back at him. "How many troops will you need?" Ivy asked.

"Wait, what!?" Carlos asked, surprised that they weren't angry. "I thought you'd be mad at me for dragging you into this..."

Ivy shook her head. "We aren't. We'll even support you with troops. We pardoned you from being framed, so this fight is ours as much as it is yours."

"She's right," Nova said, "and you've got me and the Dragon Clan, too! I can get a bunch of dratini to help us."

"Thank you both," Carlos said gratefully, "it really means a lot to me. I think 10 dratini and pancham guards should do. Also, Paul, I would appreciate it if you could come with us."

"Of course. I've got your back," Paul said reassuringly.

"The only problem is that I don't know how to get back to Treasure Town without being ambushed," Carlos said worriedly.

"Wait, we know someone who has a machine for that," Ivy told him. "His name is Garrison."

Gears immediately did a spit take when he was drinking. "Um... Garrison Schwarts?"

"Yes, why?" Herb asked.

"He... He's my father..." Gears trailed off. Everyone looked at him in concern.

"If you don't want to talk with your dad, then you can always hide, dude," Sally suggested. Gears shook his head. "No. I think it's finally time that I confront him."

"Oh, what a coincidence," Herb said. "He's already here." As he finished, a golurk walked into the room. He instantly looked at Gears, who got off his chair and walked over to him.

"Gears," the golurk said in a forlorn manner and deep voice. "It's been so long..."

"Dad..." Gears said quietly, before the two embraced in a hug. "... I'm so sorry for running away," Gears continued as he began to cry.

"No, son," the golurk said, "it was my fault for taking away your right for fighting. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Dad... Of course I forgive you," Gears replied.

"Thank you, son. That means a lot," the golurk said, finally dropping the hug. He looked at Carlos. "You must be the human that Herb told me about in his message."

Carlos looked confused. "What message?"

"Well, I have Garrison on standby. After all, he does have the best equipment in Wesali," Herb explained.

"Yup. That's the life of a merchant," Garrison said proudly.

"So, the king and queen told me that you have a machine that can get us to Treasure Town," Carlos said, going back to the main subject.

"Ah, yes," Garrison said as he pulled out a navy blue cube that was about 4 inches on each side. "My greatest invention ever."

Carlos looked at the cube. "... _Really_?"

"Sure, it may not look like much, but it hasn't been activated. Now, watch this!" Garrison said as he pressed a small button and threw it on the ground. A second later, it flashed and instantly unfolded into a control panel with a portal.

"Whoa..." Anubis said.

"Agreed," Lily said in awe as well.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Garrison declared proudly, "say hello to the future of merchantry goods - the GarrisonCorp Transporter! It takes you anywhere within a 30-mile range after you complete a short dungeon."

"How short, exactly?" Carlos asked.

"Well, it depends on the distance," Garrison explained to him. "Treasure Town isn't that far, so it'd be about 3 floors." He then went over to the control panel and typed in Treasure Town, causing the portal to light up.

"Alright-" Carlos said.

"Wait! Don't forget us!" four other voices said outside of the palace.

"Who could that be?" Ruby asked.

"I'll go see," Ivy said as she made her way to the front gate. When she opened it, Carlos saw four familiar faces: a fraxure, a monferno, a glaceon and a larvitar.

He instantly remembered who they were. "Blake!?"

"Oh, so you know them," Ivy said as she let the team through.

"Of course. They helped me get out of jail," Carlos told her and the king. "They were in jail because Sharese made people think that they killed an outlaw."

"I see," Ivy said as she looked at the team. "I'll see to it that your names are cleared after this whole ordeal is over. Now, what brings you four here?"

"We wanted to help Carlos clear his name," Hailey said.

"So we were wondering if we could go with you," Kevin continued.

"I will go as well," Diancie said, "in case anything gets out of hand."

"... Sure. More pokémon to help is always a good thing," Carlos agreed.

"I would like to go as well," Lulu said.

Herb and Ivy looked shocked. "No, sweetie! Why would we ever let you!?"

"Lily proved that she could take care of herself," Carlos said. "She's proven to be a capable fighter, so I don't see the harm in bringing Lulu with us."

"Yes, and I'll be sure to protect her, mother," Lily added.

"... Very well, then, Lulu. You may go," Ivy said. Lulu shrieked in happiness before rushing over to Lily.

"Carlos," Heb said. "Take good care of our daughters. We'll send in your reinforcements on an airship."

"Thanks," Carlos said as he, Anubis, Vixi, Darkfang, Piplup, Chimchar, Ruby, Sally, Nova, Lily, Lulu, Raptor, Gears, Team Infinity, and Diancie stepped into the portal.

* * *

**Light-Speed Passage**

**1F** \- Carlos looked at the dungeon in awe. There were neon colors everywhere that made it look futuristic. He looked back at his teammates, but only saw Diancie, Blake and Nova.

"Hey, where are the others?" he asked.

"I guess the dungeon has a four pokémon limit," Diancie deduced. "We'll probably see them at the end of the dungeon."

"Okay, then," Carlos said. He led the other three to the next room, where they encountered an unown that looked like the letter u.

"Um... Hi, little fella," Carlos said awkwardly.

"Beep, boop boop," the unown said as it approached them.

"Um... Yes?" Carlos replied confusedly. The unown u replied by firing green orbs at Carlos. However, he was shielded by Diancie.

"Diancie! Are you okay!?" Carlos shouted. Diancie, however, looked completely fine.

"Yes, do not worry. That hidden power must have been dragon type," Diancie reassured. "Now, let us proceed. I sense the stairs in the next room."

"Got it," Carlos said as he attacked the unown with a powerful spark. Before it could recover from the attack, Diancie hurled a pink ball of energy at it, knocking it out.

"Whoa, nice moonblast!" Blake said as they approached the stairs. Before they ascended, Carlos noticed an unown z looking at them.

**2F** \- Luckily for them, they spawned in the same room as the stairs.

Carlos noticed the unown z from the last floor. "Guys... I think that unown is following us."

"You must be imagining it, Carlos. Let's go," Nova said as they all went up the stairs.

**3F** \- The four of them appeared in a room with an unown h and an unown c. Nova and Blake beat the unown h with a combination of Dragon Rage and Dragon Claw, while Diancie unleashed a powerful barrage of multicolored rocks at the other unown, knocking it out instantly.

"My signature move - diamond storm," Diancie clarified. The other three nodded and moved on to the next room, where they found the stairs behind the same unown z from before.

"Hi. Um... Why are you following us?" Carlos asked politely.

"Beep, beep, beep," the unown said.

"Hold on, I can understand," Diancie said. "It says it wants to help."

Carlos looked at the unown. "Is that true?" The unown replied with a motion that Carlos could only describe as nodding.

"Well, welcome to the crew, uh... Do you have a name?" Carlos said.

"Boop," the unown replied.

"It said no, but it'd be happy if you gave it one," Diancie translated.

"Oh... Okay, um... How about Zee?" Carlos suggested. The unown gave the name an approving 'beep'.

"Welcome, then, Zee!" Carlos said. The five pokémon went up the stairs a final time.

* * *

After a bright flash of light, everyone found themselves together again.

"Guys, your back!" Piplup said happily.

"Yeah, and we even made a new friend!" Carlos said, motioning over to Zee.

"Well, look who's here," a familiar voice said. Carlos glared as he turned to Hazel, who was accompanied by Dusty, Katty, the guild, and several exploration teams, such as Teams Tasty, Seedgey, Poochy, Glee, Flame, Razor Wind, Raider and Charm.

"Uh-oh..." Chimchar said worriedly.

"This cannot end well," Lulu said.

"Looks like we were smart enough to bring reinforcements," Hazel said with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah? So did we," Carlos shot back as an airship dropped off 10 panchayat soldiers and 10 dratini.

Everyone could practically feel the tension on the field as Carlos and Hazel glared at each other, waiting for the other to begin the assault. The soldiers gripped their weapons in anticipation, and the explorers had their treasure bags ready.

"ATTACK!" Carlos and Hazel shouted at the same time, and the two sides began to collide...

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry for this being late, but I just want to express that there's a lot going on at school, plus I'm saving up to buy Bravely Default. But besides that, I bear some good news - the next chapter will conclude the ****_Framed For Murder_**** story arc, and after that is the special episode, so look forward to it! I will definitely post the story arc finale within this week to make up for my late updates. Oh, and before I forget -**

**Carlos (shinx) - Level 28 Tackle/Swagger/Bite/Spark**

**Darkfang (poochyena) - Level 23 Tackle/Bite/Swagger/Assurance**

**Anubis (riolu) - Level 21 Feint/Copycat/Force Palm/Rock Smash**

**Vixi (zorua) - Level 21 Fury Swipes/Feint Attack/Pursuit/Scary Face**

**Ruby (glameow) - Level 25 Fury Swipes/Fake Out/Feint Attack/Charm**

**Sally (sneasel) - Level 23 Fury Swipes/Icy Wind/Feint Attack/Metal Claw**

**Nova (dratini) - Level 27 Wrap/Thunder Wave/Slam/Dragon Rage**

**Raptor (hawlucha) - Level 30 Tackle/Karate Chop/Aerial Ace/Flying Press**

**Gears (golett) - Level 28 Mega Punch/Shadow Punch/Magnitude/Protect**

**Lily (chikorita) - Level 23 Tackle/Magical Leaf/Synthesis/Reflect**

**Lulu (petilil) - Level 21 Mega Drain/Growth/Leech Seed/Magical Leaf**

**Paul (pancham) - Level 28 Slash/Vital Throw/Comet Punch/Circle Throw**

**Piplup - Level 25 Fury Attack/Bubblebeam/Peck/Bide**

**Chimchar - Level 25 Fury Swipes/Ember/Flame Wheel/Torment**

**Blake (fraxure) - Level 35 Dragon Claw/Slash/Dual Chop/Fling**

**Kevin (monferno) - Level 33 Fury Swipes/Flame Wheel/Mach Punch/Ember**

**Hailey (glaceon) - Level 33 Quick Attack/Icy Wind/Bite/Ice Shard**

**Felix (larvitar) - Level 34 Bite/Leer/Chip Away/Rock Slide**

**Diancie - Level 50 Moonblast/Diamond Storm/Skill Swap/Ancient Power**

**Do not question the spike in levels, please!**


	33. Chapter 30: The Darkness Within

**Author's Note: Welcome back, and thank the stars that I updated so soon. Sorry that it's a bit later than I promised... I blame Bravely Default. And school presentations. Anyways, I hope you guys are ready for this arc's end, because I guarantee that it will blow your mind! This chapter might be a long one, too.**

* * *

**WAVE BATTLE #2: Treasure Town**

**[_Paper Mario 2: Lord Crump Battle_ music]**

**Wave 1 - Loudred, Sunflora, Corphish**

The backup soldiers were left to deal with the backup exploration teams, which left Carlos' group to fight the guild. Lily, Lulu, Ruby and Sally faced off against Loudred, Sunflora and Corphish.

Lily fired her razor leaf at Corphish, but he was quick to dodge. Ruby hit him with fury swipes, but he was quick to retaliate with a quick crabhammer.

Sally caught Ruby before she could hit the ground. She set her down gently and glared at Corphish. "Take this!" Sally shouted before disappearing.

"Hey, hey, where'd she go!?" Corphish asked with shock before she reappeared in front of him and punched him back with a darkened fist.

"I got you, buddy!" Loudred shouted before screaming at a deafening sound. Ruby and Sally were able to block out some of the noise with their hands, but Lily and Lulu weren't so fortunate.

"What is this horrible noise!?" Lily said as she desperately tried to block the noise.

"I believe it's hyper voice, Lily!" Lulu shouted.

"I got this, guys!" Sally said with her claws over her ears. In an instant, she fired a powerful icy wind straight into Loudred's mouth, causing him to cough uncontrollably.

"Eek! Loudred!" Sunflora shrieked before angrily firing a razor leaf at Sally. Lily got in front of her and casting a pink reflect barrier, which harmlessly bounced the leaves away.

* * *

**Wave 2 - Chimecho, Croagunk and Bidoof**

Meanwhile, Raptor, Gears and Paul were handling the other three guild members. Raptor was able to easily avoid a poison jab from Croagunk and hit him with aerial ace. Chimecho, however, saw an opening and hit him with a brutal psybeam, causing him to fall to the ground.

"That's for hurting my friends!" she yelled, right before Gears snuck up on her and hit her with a shadow punch.

Bidoof attempted to knock Paul back with a tackle, but Paul was able to repel him with a series of comet punches.

Chimecho saw this and was about to use another psybeam, but Raptor tackled her in time. This allowed Croagunk, however, to hit him with a brick break.

Gears then knocked him away with a mega punch, which also left Croagunk confused and dizzy.

"Phew. This is quite a workout," Gears commented.

"Yeah, this is easy!" Paul agreed.

* * *

One of the poochyena from Team Poochy dealt a serious bite on one of the dratini. He was saved by a pancham guard that knocked the poochyena away with his shield.

He helped the dratini up. "Are you okay, dude?"

The dratini nodded. "Thanks to you. Now come on, we've got a battle to win!" he said as they charged at Team Tasty's swellow.

* * *

**Wave 3 - Wigglytuff and Chatot**

Anubis, Vixi, Darkfang and Team Infinity went to deal with the guildmaster and Chatot. However, they were having some notable difficulty.

"YOOM-TAH!" Wigglytuff yelled as the boom from his Hyper Voice was enough to knock the seven off their feet. Chatot followed up by assaulting Vixi with a fury attack.

"Leave her alone, you dumb bird!" Anubis screamed as he hit Chatot with a powerful rock smash on the beak that managed to repel him and ruffle a lot of feathers.

"Squawk! Insolent toddler!" Chatot yelled as he attempted to peck at Anubis, but Darkfang got in the way and bit Chatot as hard as he could, causing him to flinch.

"Take this!" Blake said as he and Hailey nailed Chatot with a dual chop and ice shard combo.

"YOOM-TAH!" Wigglytuff shouted again, knocking them away from Chatot.

Darkfang landed on his paws. "If only we could stop that hyper voice..."

"Ooh! Maybe a Silence spell?" Anubis suggested. Darkfang put his paw to his face. "I'm pretty sure you're thinking of another franchise..."

* * *

**Wave 4 - Dusty and Katty**

Piplup, Chimchar and Nova were in charge of handling Dusty and Katty who, in truth, were much tougher than Chatot and Wigglytuff. Dusty had rammed Chimchar with his rollout, but was soon bombarded by Piplup's bubblebeam.

Meanwhile, Katty was able to pin Nova down and slap her repeatedly.

"Get OFF!" Nova shouted, firing a dragon rage that sent Katty backwards. Nova then got up and slammed into her before she could recover.

"Katty!" Dusty shrieked before attempting to hit Nova with a series of rollouts. However, he was intercepted by Chimchar's flame wheel. Chimchar was eventually knocked back, though.

Nova noticed that Katty had gotten back up, so she shot a thunder wave at her, rendering her immobile yet again.

Suddenly, everyone in the town felt something. A tension so thick that it threatened to bring all the warriors to their knees. They all ceased their fighting and made a large circle around the two pokémon glaring daggers at each other.

* * *

Carlos and Hazel stood about five feet away from each other. They both looked just about ready to kill the other, if necessary. They looked around and noticed that everyone had crowded around them before turning their attention back to each other.

Carlos glared at Hazel. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but I didn't kill the king. He's still alive."

Hazel merely scoffed and glared back. "As if I'm gonna believe anything you say. I can't believe I ever trusted you."

"Why can't you trust me? I thought you did... I thought you were a true friend..." Carlos said with a hint of sadness.

"How dare you talk about true friendship!? If anyone here isn't reliable, it's you!" Hazel shouted accusingly.

"... Excuse me!?" Carlos said, on the verge of his breaking point. "I saved your life at Fogbound Lake! I thought that kiss meant something... Maybe we would've been better off without you," he added darkly.

That alone was the last straw for Hazel. "DIE!" she screamed, leaping at Carlos.

**BOSS FIGHT #15: Hazel (2nd)**

**[_Final Fantasy IV: Four Emperors Battle_ music]**

Carlos unleashed a spark just before Hazel made contact, which resulted in Carlos getting knocked back and Hazel getting paralyzed.

Carlos got up and took the chance to tackle her. The paralysis then wore off, so Carlos tried to use another spark. However, Hazel was able to jump over him and shoot him with a fireball that spread around him.

"You learned flame burst!?" Carlos asked in surprise.

Hazel smirked triumphantly. "What do you think I've been doing all this time? That's not the only new move I've learned!" she said as her eyes glowed red and purple. Suddenly, black projectiles were shot straight at Carlos at a quick speed.

"You learned hex, too!?" Carlos uttered in disbelief before he was blasted to the ground.

All of a sudden, Zee floated in and hit Hazel with a Hidden Power and went over to check on Carlos.

Hazel shook the attack off, but looked like she was in great pain.

_"Zee must have a water-type Hidden Power,"_ Carlos thought. He got up, a bit painfully, though. "Thanks, Zee."

"Beebeep," Zee replied before floating back in the crowd. This time, Nova slithered over to him.

"Are you okay, Carlos!?" she asked with worry. Carlos nodded in reply.

"What is wrong with you!?" Hazel yelled as she glared at Nova. "He's a criminal!"

"No, I'm not!" Carlos shouted angrily.

"Yeah, he saved Wesali from an invasion!" Nova said. "You have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Of course I know what I'm talking about!" Hazel screamed. "You're the idiot here, you stupid dragon! You and the rest of those morons that keep helping this-"

"SHUT UP!" Carlos screamed at the top of his lungs, causing the whole town to go silent. Even Hazel and Nova were shocked into silence. All that was heard was the wind blowing and Carlos' ragged breathing, which for whatever reason seemed to get louder and louder.

Nova looked at him worriedly. _"W-What is this? It's like... like energy is radiating off of him..."_ she thought, briefly wondering if he was going through his cyan form, which he had told her at one point. "This... this can't be his form... this energy... i-it feels like anger... hatred... fury..."

"Rgh..." Carlos groaned before feeling the surge of energy that he felt when fighting Darkfang and Groudon. Only this time, he gained a massive headache and seemingly blacked out.

* * *

Carlos opened his eyes and saw that he was no longer in Treasure Town. He got up and looked at the area in front of him. The floor was soft and pink, the ceiling was pink... everything else remained shrouded in darkness.

"Ugh, my head..." Carlos said as he put his paw to his head and looked at his surroundings. "Where am I? This place is so weird... and pink. It's... It's like I'm inside a brain or something..."

"My, you catch on quick," a sly, deep, feminine voice said from behind him. Carlos turned around and stared slack-jawed at the pokémon he saw. It was a large avian bird with large wings that had three spikes at their ends. There were also five claws on each appendage. The pokémon was mainly red and had multiple black markings along its body. It had light blue eyes, adorned with black horns above them. There was also a gray ruff around its neck, and small, gray talons on its birdlike legs.

"I suppose this is the first time we've formally met," the giant bird pokémon said as she gracefully landed on the ground, smirking. "I am Yveltal: the Pokémon Goddess of Death."

"Oh... my... God," Carlos managed to utter.

Yveltal's smirk only grew. "Indeed. As you may have guessed, we're in your mind," she said, gesturing to some sort of window behind her. Carlos walked over to it and saw Hazel, Nova, and the entire town looking at him.

"A window that leads to the exact same images your outer self is seeing," Yveltal explained. For a goddess, she talked rather calmly.

All of a sudden, Carlos remembered something and glared at Yveltal. "You were the one who corrupted Groudon at Fogbound Lake!"

Yveltal nodded. "Your point?"

"Do you know what he did to Hazel!? She could've died!" Carlos yelled angrily.

"How odd," Yveltal remarked. "You didn't seem to have a problem with harming her just a second ago."

Carlos looked down. "I don't want to harm her, it's just... I can't believe she would stab me in the back, after all we've been through... And sure, maybe I hate her... but killing her isn't the answer."

"Hm. I suppose it isn't..." Yveltal mused. "I guess I'll have to change that."

"What?" Carlos asked, looking back at Yveltal, but she snatched him up in one of her wings before he could even try to dodge. He tried to worm his way out, but she had a firm grip on him.

"Let go of me!" Carlos demanded, continuing to struggle.

"Shh... don't struggle... just look into my eyes," Yveltal said hypnotically as her eyes became completely blue. Carlos looked at her eyes in a trance, as his eyes were beginning to turn blue as well. He tried to shut his eyes.

"Don't fight the darkness... embrace it..." Yveltal said. This time, Carlos couldn't look away and was pulled right into her gaze.

Yveltal smirked. "Your mind is mine."

* * *

Back in the real world, Carlos had begun to scream in agony with his eyes closed. His fur began to change from shiny yellow to blood red. His tail tip, wrists and ears became pitch black.

Diancie was still watching everything unfold from behind a tree. "No..."

Black markings started appearing on Carlos' fur. When he opened his eyes, they were a clear crystal blue, just like Yveltal's.

"No... No, no, NO!" Diancie said in worry as she created a portal and went through it.

"Um... Carlos?" Hazel said nervously. Carlos gave her a monotonous glare.

"Must... obey... my master," he muttered before charging at Hazel.

* * *

Back in Carlos' mind, Yveltal was still keeping a strong hold on Carlos' mind.

"You're going to be a big help to me," Yveltal said, gently stroking Carlos' fur with one of her claws. "With you by my side, I can destroy all those who oppose me and take my rightful place as empress of this continent!"

"Diamond storm!" Diancie shouted as she emerged from a portal, firing a barrage of diamonds at Yveltal, knocking her back and causing her to drop Carlos. Diancie, however, was able to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Phew. Thanks for the save, Diancie," Carlos said.

"No problem," she replied with a smile. All of a sudden, Yveltal uttered an ear-splitting shriek that caused them both to cover their ears.

Yveltal took to the sky. "Very well. I tried to be nice, but no more!" she yelled in an agitated tone.

"Carlos, remember - this is your mind, so you can do anything you can think of!" Diancie reminded him.

"I care not if you can do what you want in here!" Yveltal said. "I am the goddess of death! I will see to it that you are sent to the deepest part of hell, Diancie, and your so-called 'Chosen One' shall be my eternal slave!"

Carlos and Diancie got into battle stances. "We'll see about that!" they both shouted.

Yveltal landed on the ground and took a stance of her own. "Fools! You have no idea what you're up against!"

**MAJOR BOSS FIGHT #3: Yveltal - Goddess of Death**

**[_Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver: Vs. Lance Battle_ music]**

"Carlos, try using a move you don't know!" Diancie said.

"Um... okay," Carlos said. He concentrated really hard and fired a thunderbolt at Yveltal, who was directly hit.

"Awesome!" Carlos said happily, until he realized that Yveltal didn't look harmed. In fact, she appeared to look bored. "... Oh."

"Let me try," Diancie said as she placed her hands near her head and released another barrage of diamonds. Yveltal, however, was able to dodge them all.

"Are you kids done? Because playtime's over," Yveltal said as she fired a black beam of dark energy at both of them, who were unable to dodge. Diancie powered though it with relative ease, but Carlos felt the darkness beginning to overpower him. Thankfully, the attack ended before he could collapse.

"Carlos, let me help!" Diancie said as she used her hands to form two blue orbs in front of Carlos and Yveltal. She then switched them. "There. Now that Yveltal has the Rivalry ability, you shouldn't take much damage."

"Enough!" Yveltal shouted as she concealed herself in a blue aura and rushed at Carlos.

"Eep!" he shrieked, summoning a protect. Since he was inexperienced on it, he was only barely able to keep it up.

"Okay, let's see how you handle THIS!" Yveltal said, forming a violet sphere and shooting it straight at Carlos.

"WHOA!" Carlos exclaimed as he barely got out of the way. "What was that!?"

"Oblivion wing. It's her signature move," Diancie explained. "Whatever you do, do not get hit by it, or she'll get all of her health back."

"Don't worry, I've got an idea," Carlos said as he faced Yveltal. "Disable!" he shouted as he fired a small red beam at Yveltal. Unfortunately, she dodged it with ease.

"I don't think so," Yveltal said tauntingly as she fired the exact same attack at Carlos, and he flashed red for a brief second.

"Aww... She disabled my disable..." Carlos said with disappointment.

"Face it. You cannot hope to ever beat me," Yveltal declared.

"Heal block!" Carlos shouted, blasting Yveltal with a ray of light.

"Wha-" Yveltal uttered in surprise, losing her calm composure for once. "How did you know!?"

"Bulbapedia, sucker!" Carlos gloated.

Yveltal glared at them. "... Very well. I will let you go this one time." She then created a dark portal and left.

* * *

The next thing they knew, they were back in Treasure Town. Carlos looked at his fur and saw that it was normal.

"Diancie, we did it!" Carlos said, sharing a high-five with the mythical legendary.

"He duped a legendary too!?" Hazel said in frustration.

"Carlos!" a voice from above said. Everyone looked up and saw Herb and Ivy in an airship. "We've come to pick you all up."

"... Who are they?" Dusty asked.

The king and queen got off the airship after it had landed. "Greetings. We are the king and queen of Wesali."

Every explorer in the town did a double take. "What!?" Hazel asked in complete confusion.

"Well, allow me to explain..." Herb said.

* * *

Yveltal was currently in an unknown area, deep inside of a cave. She appeared to be waiting for someone. A few seconds later, Sharese, Team Ember and Evan came in and kneeled or bowed.

"Ah, there you all are," Yveltal said.

"Your Excellency, did your plan to control Carlos work?" Evan asked.

Yveltal shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Evan. And it is clear to me that this boy is more trouble than I had originally thought. He has already defeated each of us. Isolating him from his friends didn't seem to work, either..."

"Maybe we should move to our backup plan?" Sharese suggested.

"Ah, good idea. Is he ready, though?" Yveltal asked.

Sharese nodded. "Yes, I have been training with him nonstop, and he appears to be unbeatable. He definitely has the power to defeat the Chosen One."

"Good. Then we will send him off tomorrow..."

* * *

"... So it was Sharese!?" Katty asked once Herb explained what had happened. He nodded his head in reply.

Carlos looked at Hazel angrily. "See? That's what I've been trying to tell you, but you never gave me the chance!" His voice sounded like it was breaking a little.

Hazel felt absolutely guilty after hearing Carlos said that. "Carlos, I'm sorry..."

"No, no, no, sorry doesn't cut it here!" Carlos said angrily. "I can't just forgive and forget everything you've done!"

"But... We're a team..." Hazel said, on the verge of tears.

"..." Carlos thought about what Hazel said for a moment. "... No."

Hazel felt a tear escape her eye. "W-What do you mean?"

"... You said we were a team... well, guess what!?" Carlos said as he angrily threw his treasure bag and explorer badge on the ground. "I quit Team Destiny!"

Everyone in the square gasped. Hazel, however, began to quietly sob. "Carlos... please don't..."

Carlos shook his head. "... I'm... I'm not mad... I just... don't trust you anymore..." He looked over to the Wigglytuff Guild. "Apprehending criminals is your thing, so I understand what you did..." He then looked over to Dusty. "And I know that you followed Hazel out of justice, so I'll let you and your friend slide. You and the guild are welcome to visit me, and maybe I'll think about letting you talk to me," Finally, he set his eyes towards Hazel, "but if I see you anywhere near me, then I will NOT hesitate to finish what that evil persona of mine started."

"I just want us to be friends again..." Hazel said desperately. More tears escaped from her eyes.

"... I just can't trust you anymore," Carlos said as he headed for the airship. The soldiers, his allies, and the king and queen reluctantly followed.

Hazel couldn't hold it in anymore. She leapt at Wigglytuff and began sobbing into his fur as the airship left... along with her best friend.

* * *

**Author's Note: Man, this was a doozy to write. Anyways, now that the story arc is over, the special episode is next. Now, for this special episode, I need all of your help. Along with your review, I need you to pm me questions that you would want to ask the characters, or even me. But if your question has to do with spoilers, I can't answer it. You see, this special episode will be a QnA special, so send as many questions for the characters to answer as you can. See you then, and here's the question format:**

**[insert character name]: [insert question]**


	34. Special Ep 3: QnA (5k Views!)

**PlasmaShinx77: Hey guys, and happy Election Day! I hope you're all enjoying your day off from school as much as I am... Well, I would be saying that, if I didn't always overestimate my writing ability. An apology if I promised you an update on Election Day. But it's Sunday, so that's technically a day off, too...**

**Hazel: Yeah. It's a nice day to just sit and relax, right, Carlos?**

**Carlos: ...**

**PlasmaShinx77: He's still pissed off at you, you know.**

**Hazel: *sighs* I know.**

**Carlos: ...PlasmaShinx77, just explain the concept of this episode so we can get it over with already.**

**PlasmaShinx77: Fine. So basically, as the title implies, this special episode is going to focus on reviewers' questions for the cast. Whenever a lot of questions have been asked, we're gonna have a blank space of time, which I will fill up with Greek myths. The cast stars in these myths, and I also added some humor to the scripts. So now you can be educated and entertained at the same time.**

**Ruby: Glad to see your story is also shaping youth.**

**Anubis: Yeah, and the acting was pretty fun, too!**

**PlasmaShinx77: Right, then. Let's start the episode!**

* * *

Back in Wesali's palace, many pokémon were gathered. Among them were Carlos, Nova, Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Ruby, Sally, Raptor, Gears, Lily, Lulu, Zee, Paul, Hazel, Dusty, Katty, the Wigglytuff Guild, Herb, Ivy, Team Infinity, Kelvin, Darkburn, Team Ember, Sharese, and Yveltal.

"... Is anyone concerned that we're not trying to kill each other?" Paul asked when he noticed all the antagonists.

"It's a special episode, just go with it," Carlos replied. After a few minutes of waiting the doors of the palace opened, and a variety of odd pokémon walked in. In the front was a luxray, but his fur was a light sea green color. His eyes, wrists, and tail tip had a deep gold coloring to them. Behind him were a quilava, an umbreon, a sylveon, and a furret with a blue fedora and brown glasses.

"Um... who exactly are you?" Ivy asked the newcomers.

"We are powerful deities who can determine your fates more than even you could wish to," the luxray said. "I am the deity of this world. It is my duty to prolong the many different fates of this world, which I can determine in mere seconds!"

"... What?" all the other pokémon asked in total confusion.

"We're powerful authors, and everything that happens to you is because of this guy," the quilava explained, pointing at the luxray

"So, what are your names?" Herb asked.

"Well, all of our names kind of need privacy protection," the luxray said, "but you can call us by our usernames. To make things simple, I'm Plasma, the furret is Ck, the sylveon is Ryu, the quilava is Quilava, and the umbreon is Blaster."

"Oh, hi, Ryu!" Kelvin said.

"Hi, Kelvin," Ryu replied.

"What's up, Ck?" Gears greeted.

"Lots of stuff. But it's nice to see you've been doing well," Ck told him.

"Hold on - you know each other?" Dusty asked confusedly.

"Duh. Thayer our creators," Gears clarified.

"... Okay, then," Darkfang said. "Plasma, what did you mean when you said you could write out our destinies?"

"Well, I can determine and create the rest of your lives using my sacred oracle - the Apple iPad Mini!" Plasma said, dramatically pulling out his tablet.

"That doesn't look powerful at all. It just looks like a piece of plastic," Yveltal pointed out.

"Really? Can plastic do this?" Carlos asked as he set the tablet down and began to push buttons on the screen. A few seconds later, an anvil fell out of nowhere and onto Yveltal.

"Ow!" she whined. Another anvil dropped down on her. "Okay, okay, I get it!"

Carlos stopped writing and put his tablet away. "Good."

"That was awesome!" Anubis said with glee. "Wasn't that awesome, Vixi?"

"Um... Yes, I guess so," Vixi replied shyly.

"So, what brings you here?" Lily asked.

"Well, you see, my friends here have a lot of questions for you guys. Mainly about what's going on right now, so I was hoping we could ask you," Plasma said.

"I don't see why not," Sally said.

"It should be interesting," Raptor agreed.

"Awesome. Looks like the trip here was worth it," Blaster remarked.

"You said it, dude," Plasma remarked. "Although that trip has left me traumatized."

"How?" Katty asked.

"Well, we all pitched in to create a wormhole transmitter to come here," Blaster said, "but it had some... bugs."

"Oh. But what traumatized you, Plasma?" Blake from Team Infinity asked.

"... Going to My Little Pony world," Plasma said bluntly.

Carlos looked confused. "But you wrote a fanfic on that very concept. What was so scary?"

"... Going to My Little Pony world with Ryu," Plasma clarified as he remembered the traumatic events.

* * *

_FLASHBACK (PlasmaShinx77's POV)_

_As the Dimensional Transporter powered down again, we opened our eyes and saw that we were in the outskirts of a village._

_"Wrong world again," Ck muttered. "Don't worry, I'll fix it." He then pulled a screwdriver from his fedora and got to working on the device. Well, I guess he did know more about it than the rest of us._

_"Where are we, anyways?" Blaster asked._

_"Technically, it would be 'anyway'," Quilava said, earning a cold glare from Blaster. "Besides that, judging from these vivid colors and that village's populace, I'd say that we're on the outskirts of Ponyville."_

_"Ponyville!? ... Uh oh," I thought, glancing over to Ryu. He was glaring daggers at me._

_"Ten... nine... eight..." Ryu said, counting backwards._

_Oh. I know exactly what that means, so I did the first thing that came to my mind - I grabbed a hammer and began whacking the transporter. And all the while, I'm screaming "FIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFIXITFI-"_

_The Dimensional Transporter then began to malfunction and zapped the five of us somewhere else. When we apparently arrived to another area, I opened my eyes and saw a large town in a desert-like area. Then I saw a sign that said: 'Welcome to Wesali."_

_Then I yelled out "Nailed it!"_

* * *

"I'd rather not be reminded of that incident," Ryu said, irritated.

"I see," Carlos said. "Well, okay. I guess it wouldn't hurt to answer some questions. Who's going first?"

"I'll go," Ck answered, "but I'm only gonna ask Carlos, Hazel, Dusty, Zee, Raptor and Yveltal." The aforementioned pokémon nodded.

"So, Carlos," Ck began. "Any thoughts for the future?"

Carlos was a bit taken aback by the question. "Um... Wow. I never really thought of that. Well... I guess Diancie came to Wesali for a reason... Maybe we'll find out on the next chapter, I guess..."

"Fair enough," Ck said, turning to Hazel. "And you... Are you turning into Batman?"

Hazel was completely confused. "Um... Batman?"

Ck nodded. "He's a hero that always does what he feels right to him, but doesn't have many friends."

"Kinda reminds you of someone, doesn't it?" Carlos told Hazel sarcastically, causing Hazel to look down at the ground in shame.

"Uh... Never mind," Ck said, seeing the situation tense up. "Next, Dusty - what have you been up to?"

"... What do you mean?" Dusty asked.

"Well, you were kinda absent for a large part of the story arc. What happened in that time?" Ck asked.

"Well... Hazel just trained, along with the rest of us," Dusty said.

"Oh," Ck said in slight disappointment. Then he looked at Zee. "Beep boop beep."

Zee narrowed her eye and looked at Carlos. "Is he for real?"

Everyone, including the five authors, stared at Zee with wide eyes. "YOU CAN TALK!?" They all exclaimed.

Zee sighed in frustration. "Yes! It's called wide-range telepathy!" She turned to look at Plasma. "You of all people should know this!"

"Oh, yeah," Plasma said.

"Wow. I did not expect that," Ck said, still a bit shocked. "So, Yveltal, what have you been up to?"

"You mean besides trying to kill us?" Nova said sarcastically.

"Well... I've been going out with Palkia for a while now," Yveltal replied.

"So there's dating between legendaries?" Ck asked in surprise.

Yveltal nodded. "Of course. But Palkia ended our relationship anyway. He said that I was 'kind of a crazy chick', and that he preferred Articuno because she was 'a stone-cold fox'."

"Oh. You must be devastated," Katty said in concern.

"Of course not!" Yveltal protested. "I'm the strongest pokémon here, so I've still got my strength."

"Hold on. You can't possibly be the strongest one here," Diancie said to the dark bird.

"Aw, and you think it's you? That's so adorable," Yveltal said mockingly, patting Diancie's head with her wing.

Diancie angrily swatted the wing away and charged up a diamond storm. "THAT'S IT!" she yelled, chasing Yveltal outside the palace while firing diamond rocks at her.

"O-kay... Um, so Raptor, are there any wrestlers you feel that you take after?" Ck asked.

"Of course! Hulk Hogan, he has his own TV show!" Raptor said enthusiastically. Ck nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's pretty much all the questions I have," Ck said. "Ryu, do you wanna go next?"

"Sure," Ryu said. "I only have a question for Sally."

"Me? Well, okay," Sally said.

"Do you know about another sneasel named Blessing?" Ryu asked.

"Actually, yes, and she sounds like a very rebellious kind of pokémon. Just like me," Sally replied proudly.

"Really? Where did you hear about her?" Ryu asked curiously.

"In a book I found," Sally told him. "For some reason, it was in Kelvin's room-"

"LIES!" Kelvin cried out before running to a nearby closet. Everyone looked on awkwardly.

"Um... We should probably get him out of there," Lulu said. The palace then shook slightly due to being impaled by Yveltal's oblivion wing during the fight.

"Yeah... We should probably stop them too," Carlos said. Half of the cast went over to the closet, and the other half went outside to go deal with Yveltal and Diancie.

"Wait! What are we supposed to do!?" Plasma asked.

Carlos looked back at him. "Play one of the filler clips or something!" He yelled back.

"Oh. Okay," Plasma muttered. He looked over at the other four. "We'll be back after this Greek myth."

* * *

**_The Myth of Persephone_**

**_Cast_**

**_Persephone (Vixi)_**

**_Dis (Darkfang)_**

**_Aphrodite (Hazel)_**

**_Cupid (Anubis)_**

**_Zeus (Paul)_**

**_Ceres (Ruby)_**

* * *

**Down in the underworld, Dis appeared quite pleased with himself, looking among the people there. They were lucky to have him.**

**From behind a rock, Aphrodite and Cupid were watching Dis carefully.**

**"Hm. If I can get Dis to fall in love... then my power would have dominion in the land, sky, AND the underworld!" Aphrodite said with glee. She turned to Cupid. "You know what to do, right?"**

**Cupid nodded. "Of course. But who do you want him to fall in love with?"**

**Aphrodite smirked. "How about Ceres' daughter... Persephone?"**

**"Got it," Cupid said as he pulled out his bow and arrow, aiming at Dis. When he fired the arrow, it pierced Dis' heart. Suddenly, he ran off to the surface.**

**"My work here is done," Cupid said as he and Aphrodite left.**

**Meanwhile, in a grove in the surface world, Persephone was seen picking flowers with two other zorua.**

**"Wow... these flowers are so beautiful..." Persephone said.**

**"Yeah... Which one do you think is the prettiest?" one of the zorua asked.**

**"I'm not sure. They're all really pretty," the other zorua stated. All of a sudden, a large crack in the ground appeared, and Darkfang appeared and grabbed Persephone and summoned a chariot driven by dark ponyta.**

**"Hurry! Back to the underworld so I can spend some time with my new wife," Dis said while looking at Persephone affectionately.**

**"AAAH! MOLESTER!" Persephone screamed as she was dragged back to the underworld.**

**The other two zorua stood there in shock at what just happened.**

* * *

**"What!?" Ceres screamed, refusing to believe what Persephone's friends told her.**

**"Um... Dis took her," the first one repeated bluntly.**

**Ceres looked at the ground sadly. Then she glared at the sky. "... Then mankind will have to live without my grain." As she said this, the crops throughout the entire forest began to wither. With a look of determination on her face, Ceres set out for a long walk in order to confront Zeus about the matter.**

**Persephone was currently in the underworld, glaring at Dis, who stood in front of her.**

**Dis had a smug grin. "Well, my future queen-"**

**""MOLESTER!" Persephone screamed at the top of her lungs. The sound was enough to leave Dis crumpled on the floor.**

**"Ow!" he said. "Calm down, girl!"**

**Persephone glared at him again. "Where's my mother?"**

**"Relax, she's in the surface world. Now, stay here, I have to get something," Dis said as he left.**

**Proserpina looked up. "Mother..."**

**Dis, meanwhile, found a chesto tree. He plucked off a berry and counted the seeds in it. Seven. He smiled. "This'll do nicely."**

* * *

**Ceres was pushed out of the house. A cherrim glared at her from the door. "You are no longer welcome here!" she shouted, slamming the door.**

**Ceres scoffed. _"What's her problem? All I did was stick her son in the fireplace to make him immortal..." _she thought, before looking up and seeing a large temple. _"Ah, that must be Zeus' temple."_ She then ran to it and entered. Zeus was seen in the middle of the floor, meditating.**

**He opened his eyes and saw Ceres. "Greetings, Ceres... What brings you here?"**

**_Ten minutes of explanation later..._**

**"... that BRUTE snatched my daughter! Give her back to me this instant!" Ceres screamed to Zeus, who looked absolutely exasperated.**

**"Fine!" Zeus said tiredly.**

**Ceres immediately stopped. "Really?"**

**Zeus shrugged. "Sure, as long as she doesn't eat a seven-seeded chesto berry."**

* * *

**"Here, eat this seven-seeded chesto berry," Dis said to Persephone, handing her a chesto berry.**

**"Okay," she said, hungrily eating the berry.**

* * *

**"Ooh... That's gotta bite," Zeus said as he and Ceres saw Persephone devour the fruit. "Well, I guess she could spend half a year with you, and the other half with her new husband..."**

**Ceres sighed. "Fine..."**

* * *

"Alright, then, who's next?" Carlos asked. Yveltal and Diancie had stopped fighting, but they both looked very beat up. Kelvin was also removed from the closet.

"I guess it's my turn," Quilava said. "I'm only gonna ask Carlos, Hazel, Dusty, Katty and Darkfang questions. The rest of you can go enjoy the party that Ck set up." Everyone looked behind them and, sure enough, the palace was set up like a banquet hall.

"Now on earth did this happen!?" Ivy asked, bewildered.

Ck smiled proudly. "Reasons." The other pokémon decided to not question his logic and went to enjoy the food.

"All right, my first question is for Carlos," Quilava said. "Who do you think is more attractive: Hazel or Nova?" The two females awaited his answer intently as well.

To say that Carlos was panicking was an understatement. "U-Uh... Well, I... I... I believe in equality!" he blurted out.

"Oh. Okay," Quilava said.

Carlos sighed in relief. "Honestly, Hazel's kind of hotter," he thought before getting slapped with a tail by an aggravated Nova.

"I can see your thoughts, remember!?" Nova reminded him angrily.

"Oh, um... Sorry. That was insensitive," Carlos said shamefully.

"Don't worry, I'll forgive you, since you're cute," Nova said, nuzzling him affectionately.

"Another question," Quilava said. "If you had a choice, would you rather go out with Katty or Ruby?"

"Katty, duh... But are you aware that Ruby is, like, 24 years old?" Carlos replied.

"Really?" Quilava asked. "... Then I guess the choice was clear for you... Anyway, this next question is for Darkfang: If you had to be trapped on an island with one person, who would it be, and why?"

Darkfang didn't have to think much for his answer. "It would be Ruby. She's probably one of the only pokémon that I haven't found annoying."

"I see," Quilava said. "Also, if you could turn a male into a female, who would it be?"

Darkfang angrily pointed his paw towards Darkburn. "_That_ jerk, for ditching me to save his own hide!" Darkburn slowly creeped away from him, his eyes widening with fear.

"Wow. Kinda edgy," Quilava remarked, also a bit surprised. "Okay, these next two are for Hazel."

"Okay, ask away," Hazel said.

"Well, first of all. After what you've done, who would you be confronted by? Carlos or Nova?" Quilava asked.

"I'd rather be confronted by Carlos. Then maybe I could tell him that this was all a huge misunderstanding..." Hazel explained.

"Okay," Quilava responded. "Another thing: between you and me, would you rather date Dusty or Darkfang?"

Hazel merely sighed and shook her head. "Obviously Dusty. Darkfang is too old for me."

"Oh," Quilava said awkwardly.

"You know what? Maybe I should clarify the ages," Carlos said. "I'm 15, Hazel is 14, Dusty is 15, Katty is 14, Darkfang is 26, Anubis and Vixi are both 10, Ruby is 24, Sally is 17, Lily is 16, Raptor is 25, Gears is, Paul is 15, and Lulu is 15."

"Okay, now I know," Quilava said, nodding in understanding. "So, my next question is for Katty: if you could date someone besides Dusty, who would it be?"

Katty blushed briefly. "Well... Maybe Paul... He seems like a nice guy."

"Hmm. Interesting," Quilava said pensively before turning to Dusty. "Okay, this is my last question, and it's for you. If you could be any other pokémon besides a phanpy, what would you be?"

Dusty didn't even need a second to think. "A sandshrew! Those guys are amazing!"

"Really? That's a pretty good answer," Quilava replied.

"Alright, now that you're done with your questions, how about another myth?" Carlos suggested.

"Again? Why do we have to watch these videos?" Anubis complained.

"BECAUSE I SAID SO!" Plasma argued.

* * *

**The Myth of Adonis**

**Cast**

**Adonis (Carlos)**

**Aphrodite (Hazel)**

**Myrrha (Katty)**

**Cinyrus (Darkfang)**

**Persephone (Vixi)**

**Zeus (Paul)**

**Ares (Dusty)**

* * *

**Aphrodite watched as Myrrha and Cinyrus gazed lovingly at each other, then at the egg in front of them.**

**Aphrodite smirked. _"Hmph. Myrrha thinks she's so much prettier than me... Well, let's see how she liked being married to her father."_**

**All of a sudden, Cinyrus snapped back into reality and realized it all. He looked at Myrrha. His daughter. No, his wife. No... Both. And he had a baby with her. He was very conflicted, and had a mix of emotions. But one stood above all.**

**Hatred. With a swift motion, he drew out a sword and slashed at his daughter, who was quick to grab the egg and jump out of the way. "What are you doing!?"**

**"I'm not going to live with myself after this... So I'll just end you," Cinyrus said darkly. Myrrha quickly made a break for it, running away with the egg, with Cinyrus in close pursuit.**

**Aphrodite looked on, suddenly feeling remorse. "No... No, this isn't what I wanted!" She was at a loss, but then she had an idea. A risky one. She sighed as she pointed her paw at Myrrha.**

**Myrrha, meanwhile, was beginning to slow down and worried that Cinyrus would catch her and slay their child. All of a sudden, she felt rooted to the ground, and Cinyrus bumped into her and was knocked backwards. Unfortunately, this also caused the egg to roll out of her grasp. Myrrha watched in horror as her skin started to gain a brown color and a rough texture.**

**_"Please... help my son..."_ was her last thought before the transformation overtook her. She had become a tree.**

**Cinyrus got up and saw what had occurred. However, he paid her no mind and headed towards the unhatched egg, a sadistic grin on his face.**

**Aphrodite had enough of him, so she jumped out of her hiding place and fired a Fire Blast, instantly knocking him out. She then looked at the egg, which began to show a crack. She picked it up and looked at it with remorse. _"Don't worry, little one. I have a friend that can protect you."_**

* * *

**Back in the underworld, Persephone had just returned to her palace, when she saw something in front of the gates. She took a closer look and saw that it was a chest, along with a note. She picked it up and read it.**

**_Hai Prsefonee! Afrodiet wonted u 2 tayk car uv dis eg 4 hrr, and shill com bak 4 it latr._**

**_Luv, Cyupid._**

**Persephone sighed. "Man, when is she gonna take that kid to a spelling class..." she muttered before opening the wooden chest. As soon as she did, the egg inside of it hatched, revealing a shiny baby shinx. She was entranced by its beauty.**

**She looked a little lower and blushed. "I see. It's a boy," she thought, looking the baby over again. "Child... I shall name you... Adonis."**

* * *

**Fifteen Years Later...**

**Persephone, who hadn't aged a bit, watched happily as the now-adolescent Adonis shot arrows at multiple targets for practice.**

**Suddenly, the goddess Aphrodite appeared next to her. "Hello, Persephone."**

**"Ah, Aphrodite. Greetings to you as well," Persephone said, still watching Adonis. "And thank you for this child. He is quite the lively one."**

**"Yes, he is quite amazing," Aphrodite remarked with a blush. "Thank you for taking care of him. And now I will be taking him back."**

**Persephone glared at the vulpix harshly. "Excuse me!?"**

**"Well, I am the one who found him," Aphrodite said arrogantly. "Besides, I'm sure he'd be better off with me."**

**Persephone scoffed. "I'm the one who raised him. And I'm sure he'd rather be with a motherly figure than a prostit-"**

**"Oh, I KNOW you weren't gonna say that!" Aphrodite said angrily. The two goddess glared daggers at each other.**

**"He's MY son!"**

**"No, he's MY mate!"**

**Adonis looked at Aphrodite fearfully. "Say what now!?"**

**"ENOUGH!" The three of them looked up and saw Zeus descend to the ground with his arms crossed. "What is the meaning of this?" ****The two goddesses then proceeded to explain the situation to the father god.**

**"I see," Zeus said, turning to Adonis. "I have made my decision. Child, you shall spend 6 months with Aphrodite, then 6 more with Persephone. You will keep alternating. Understood?" Adonis nodded.**

**Zeus prepared to leave again. "I can't believe I missed the new My Little Pony episode for this..." he muttered before taking off.**

* * *

**Meanwhile, in a cavern, the god Ares was pacing around, deep in thought. _"Hmm... so, my wife, you still dedicate your heart to that nuisance Adonis? Well, I guess I'll have to fix that..."_**

* * *

**Adonis, with a bow and quiver of arrows on his back, was running towards a forest. Aphrodite was right behind him.**

**"Adonis, get back here!" Aphrodite shouted to him.**

**"Later! I wanna go hunt now!" Adonis said without even a glance.**

**"Come ON! I just want to have intercourse with you!" Aphrodite said.**

**Adonis' eyes grew wide with terror. "What!? Dammit, Plasma didn't tell me that was in the dang script!" he thought angrily. He stopped when he reached the forest, where Aphrodite finally caught up with him.**

**"Please don't go in there!" Aphrodite begged the archer.**

**"Why? There could be so many things to hunt in there," Adonis replied.**

**Aphrodite stared him in the eyes. "I just... I couldn't bear to lose you, Carlo - I mean, Adonis!"**

**"I'll be fine!" Adonis said as he ran into the forest.**

**Aphrodite took a few deep breaths. "H-He's right... I'm sure he'll be-" Suddenly, he heard a familiar scream echo throughout the forest.**

**"That voice... Adonis!" Aphrodite shouted in panic.**

* * *

**Adonis lay on the ground, a large open wound on his stomach, oozing a high quantity of blood. In front of him, there was an ursaring. The bear then glowed white and grew smaller in size, revealing it to actually be Ares.**

**Aphrodite then appeared on a chariot drawn by two swanna. She saw Adonis' condition and then glared hatefully at Ares.**

**"Um... Are you okay, honey?" Ares asked nervously.**

**Aphrodite charged up a fire blast and let it expand. "How dare you!?" she screamed, firing the blast at Ares, who took it and immediately fainted.**

**She then tearfully ran to Adonis. "Adonis, please! Please wake up!" He didn't respond. He only kept on bleeding. Aphrodite cried a bit more before waving her glowing paws over Adonis. "One more gift... from me to you..." A drop of his blood fell on the grass, turning it into a sunflower.**

**"I understand your feelings for him," Zeus said as he appeared a few feet away from Aphrodite, "which is why I will let you see him again in six months."**

* * *

Carlos glared at Plasma. "Now I see why you wanted me in that story."

Plasma smiled sheepishly. "What? Even I deserve to laugh every once in a while."

"Okay, so I'm the last one with questions, then?" Blaster asked. The others nodded. "Okay, then. First, a question for the whole guild. Why didn't you guys listen to Carlos' side of the story, even when he had, like, 8 alibis?"

The guild members looked at each other shamefully. "Well, one thing that we've all learned through personal experience is that we shouldn't instantly judge someone to be a good guy..." Chatot said.

"Seriously!?" Carlos asked, clearly irritated. "I saved your lives back at Figbound Lake!"

"He's got a point," Blaster agreed. Chatot glared at him. "O-Kay... Next few questions are for Hazel. First of all: when you wanted to join Team Ember, were you acquainted with them beforehand, or did you only try at that time in Treasure Town?"

"Well... I am acquainted with them. They usually pick on me for being weak," Hazel said sadly.

Blaster looked at Coal and shook his head. "Not cool."

"I'm an antagonist, what do you expect?" Coal countered defensively.

"Um, Blaster?" Plasma said, eying his watch. "We've gotta wrap this up soon."

"Got it," Blaster said. "Next question: why did you assume that Carlos was a criminal? I thought you two were inseparable."

Hazel looked down. "I don't want to talk about it..."

"Don't worry, you might find out nex chapter," Plasma said.

"Last question: what's Team Destiny gonna do without a leader?" Blaster asked.

"... I don't know. I honestly don't know," Hazel said sadly.

"... Oh," Blaster said before he turned to Carlos. "Alright, first question for you: what's it like being a shinx?"

Carlos chuckled. "Well, it's definitely nothing like being a human, I think, but it's fun. In fact, I'm pretty sure that electric types were my favorite."

"Okay, next question: personally, do you have a favorite berry?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah... Lum berries. Those are so good..."

"Next: do you think you could ever bring yourself to forgive the guild?"

"Well... Yeah," Carlos admitted. "I mean, given some time, sure... maybe even Dusty and Katty."

"Really?" Hazel asked hopefully.

Carlos glared at her. "Yeah, but you're still pretty much dead to me."

"Wow. Edgy..." Blaster muttered. "So, would you ever want to evolve?" Blaster asked.

"No way. I prefer being small and agile," Carlos stated proudly.

"Last question for you," Blaster informed. "If you and Hazel were still together, what would've happened if you met Nova in the same way as before?"

"Yeah, I'm a bit curious myself," Nova chimed in.

"Well," Carlos said reluctantly. "Honestly, I probably would have tried to defeat her."

"Wow. I wouldn't blame you," Nova said.

"Next up is Dusty," Blaster informed them. "Two questions for you: when did you start falling for Katty, and do you think you'll ever be able to ask her out?"

"Well... I fell for Katty after she comforted me when I ran away from home," Dusty explained. "As for asking her out... I wanna wait for the right time."

"Interesting," Blaster said. "Katty, I only have one question: what if I told you that a member of Team Destiny loves you?"

Katty facepalmed. "Well, seeing as the only other active members are Hazel and Dusty, I think it's pretty obvious..."

"Oh, right," Blaster said sheepishly. "Anyways, my next two questions are for Anubis: first of all, how well can you control your aura abilities?"

"Well, I wanna learn aura sphere, but... that's virtually impossible for a riolu," Anubis said. "But my force palm is really powerful."

"Well, just keep trying," Blaster said. "There was one riolu who knew aura sphere. I sure you can, too."

"Thanks, that means a lot. And I will keep trying," Anubis said with a nod.

"So, how exactly did you and Vixi meet?" Blaster asked.

"In Treasure Town, I saw her on the edge of a cliff, gazing at the stars, so I sat next to her and gave her some company. We talked, and she told me how she had lost her parents, so I told her that I'd be her guardian. Then we became the best of friends," Anubis explained.

"That's cool," Blaster remarked. "So, Vixi, have you ever tried transforming into another pokémon?"

Vixi shook her head. "N-Not really... I'm not exactly that skillful with my powers..."

"Oh. So, do you or Anubis have any relatives in Treasure Town?" Blaster asked.

Vixi looked down. "... No. We were both orphans, but Kecleon was nice enough to let us sleep in his shop. Then we got a home when Team Destiny accepted us."

"Whoa. I never knew," Blaster said. "Okay, next questions are for Piplup: so what was the guild like after you defeated Darkrai?"

"Honestly, not very eventful," Piplup admitted. "We just did our everyday routine all the time. It was really boring until Team Destiny came along."

_"Yeah, I can see why,"_ Blaster thought. "So, what exactly is it like, disappearing from existence for three months?"

"It was six," Piplup muttered. "So, being wiped from existence is weird. It's like your still there and can talk, but you can't really feel any part of your body."

"Okay, then, my final two questions are for Sharese," Blaster said. "First off, what exactly is your goal?"

Sharese scratched the back of her head. "Sometimes it's hard to tell... primarily, it's to make Carlos join our side, but sometimes I just have to hinder him."

"Okay. So, why do you help him, then? Is it part of your orders, or is there another reason?"

"Well, I have to help him out to get him out of unwanted consequences, like the jail situation," Sharese explained. "But..." She looked at Carlos and slightly blushed, "... there may be another reason..."

"Okay, people, this episode is late enough as it is," Plasma urged as he pushed the other four users out the palace door with him.

* * *

**PlasmaShinx77: Phew! I thought I'd never finish that episode!**

**Anubis: It was still late...**

**PlasmaShinx77: Yeah, I know. Viewers, please forgive me for this chapter's lateness. I thought doing an episode where all I do is answer questions would be easy, but things were really hectic during this week. And sorry again, but I want to prepare the next story arc a little bit beforehand, so you'll probably see an update on January.**

**Sally: Seriously!? What reason could you have for making them wait this long!?**

**PlasmaShinx77: The next story arc is approximately 28 chapters long.**

**Sally: ... Whoa. That IS a good reason.**

**Hazel: It's too bad we have to wait that long, though.**

**Dusty: Well, I wouldn't say that.**

**Katty: What do you mean?**

**Dusty: PlasmaShinx77 preordered Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. There's no way he's not gonna celebrate that with an update.**

**PlasmaShinx77: He took the words right out of my mouth. Anyways, see ya!**


	35. Chapter 31: A New Journey Begins

**Author's Note: EEEEE! I finally got Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon! After all that time... I'm gonna play this all night long! Who knows, I might even buy some diapers to last me through the night :). So, to celebrate its release, I'm uploading this chapter now. The rest of them are gonna take awhile, though... Anyway, let's get started!**

* * *

_Carlos woke up tiredly, getting up to stretch. Suddenly, he noticed something amiss. He wasn't in the castle anymore. Somehow, he wound up in a cave._

"What the- Where'd the castle go!?"_ Carlos wondered, looking around. The cave was pretty bright, but it was really cold. All of a sudden, an explosion from outside shook the cave, causing Carlos to lose his balance and fall to the ground._

_"Sounds like something's wrong outside!" he said aloud as he headed for the cave's exit. Surprisingly, there was a door there. When he opened it, he was shocked to see a bunch of ice types running about, seemingly panicked about something._

_"What the heck is going on?" Carlos said to himself, absolutely confused about what was going on. One second, he was safe in the confines of Wesali's palace, and next, he was in a cave full of frantic ice types._

_"Carlos! There you are!" he heard someone say. Carlos looked and saw someone familiar running towards him._

_"Sharese!? What are you doing here?" Carlos asked. "I'm here to get you! We have to leave, now!" she said urgently._

_"B-But... where are we, anyway?" Carlos asked her. Sharese looked at him strangely. "Do you seriously not remember what's been happening for the past three months?" Carlos had no idea what she was talking about, so he shook his head anyway._

_Sharese sighed. "I guess it has been a blur. The ice types have let us take refuge in their camp, but it looks like we've been discovered. We have to evacuate!"_

_"Oh! Um, got it!" Carlos said as he quickly followed Sharese through the cave. The more they ran, the more Carlos realized that the cave was only inhabited by ice type pokémon._

_Once they reached the cave's entrance, Sharese signaled for Carlos to stop and peered through the cave's opening. She pulled back in just in time to avoid a Flamethrower._

_"What was that!?" Carlos asked in shock._

_Sharese glared outside. "... They're here." Carlos then noticed a pokémon running towards them hastily. It appeared to be a deino, but its skin, instead of the traditional navy blue color, was swamp green. Its fur was also a lighter shade of black._

_"That deino... It must be a shiny," Carlos thought as it approached them._

_"Sharese, Carlos, we have to move out! Those pokémon are relentless!" the deino said. It had a male voice. Carlos was about to ask how he knew his name, but then Sharese interrupted. "Well, we knew we couldn't hide from them forever."_

_Carlos was still confused at the moment, but he had heard enough to know that something was after them. "Let's just go out there and fight whatever's bugging us!"_

_Sharese looked at him like he was crazy. "What!? Fight them!? That's suicide!"_

_"No... Actually, he may be onto something," the shiny deino said pensively. "If we can preoccupy them for long enough, Matol can get the defense systems operational again."_

_Sharese looked at the two of them and sighed. "I guess we can try. But the second the tables start turning, we're out of there! Understand?"_

_The deino nodded. "Okay then." He looked at Carlos. "Are you ready to fight?"_

_Carlos nodded. "Yup. My Spark'll do the trick."_

_"But you don't know Spark..." the deino said._

_Carlos felt embarrassed. "Oh, um... What moves do I know, then?"_

_"Remember - you're the author's pokémon. Concentrate really hard and you'll see the levels and moves of everyone on your team," the deino explained. Carlos nodded and closed his eyes, concentrating hard on himself, Sharese, and that mysterious shiny. Suddenly, words popped into his mind and he could see them._

_Carlos - Level 53 - Facade / Double Kick / Thunder Fang / Wild Charge_

_Sharese - Level 59 - Swift / Iron Tail / Ice Fang / Discharge_

_Ziru - Level 70 - Body Slam / Dragon Rush / Fire Fang / Crunch_

"So that deino's name... It's Ziru..."_ Carlos thought. _"But... how am I that high-leveled?"

_"Now are you ready?" the deino, who was apparently named Ziru, asked._

_"... Yeah. Let's go," Carlos said reluctantly. The three of them walked outside, ready for anything. However, they were caught off guard when they were blasted off of the ground by what felt like a Hyper Beam. Suddenly, Carlos' vision went white._

* * *

"GAH!" Carlos cried out as he woke up. He looked around, breathing heavily. Sure enough, he was in a bedroom in Wesali. Nova, who had wrapped herself around him, was woken up by his reaction. "Carlos, what happened? I felt you panic."

"Um... Well..." Carlos stuttered, attempting to fing a good excuse, but then remembered that Nova would know anyway. "I... I had a dream."

"Really? What happened in it?" Nova asked.

"I was in a cave with Sharese... and some other pokémon. I think it was a shiny deino," Carlos said.

"Hmm... That IS strange..." Nova told him. "But we can't dwell on that now. The others are in the dining hall, and we want to talk to you about something."

"About what?" Carlos asked.

"You'll see when we get there," Nova said as she helped him off of the bed and led him out.

* * *

When Carlos got to the dining hall, everyone was staring at him worriedly, especially Diancie. There was a seat they saved for him.

"Oh, no... Did I get framed again?" Carlos asked worriedly.

Ivy shook her head. "No. In fact, now that your name has been cleared, you're well-known throughout the whole Wesali area."

Carlos blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes. You've even become known in the other capital cities ," Herb added. "You're quite the idol."

"But that's not why we all need to talk to you," Zee said in a robotic-like feminine voice.

Everyone stared at her in surprise. "You can talk!?"

Zee sighed angrily... or, at least it sounded like a sigh. "Didn't we clarify this on the special episode?"

"Oh, right," Carlos remembered, as did everyone else. "So, what do you guys want to talk about?"

"Well... Do you recall what happened in that battle in Treasure Town?" Lily asked.

Carlos nodded. "This is gonna sound weird... but I think when I got really angry at Hazel, something snapped in me. And I think I saw my fur change color..."

"Yeah, then you started trying to kill Hazel!" Darkfang told him.

"What!?" Carlos said in shock. "I hated her, but I'd never go there!"

"Well, you did," Darkfang said, a bit calmer now. "But why?"

Carlos looked down. "I... I... don't know..." He didn't want the others to know that he had encountered Yveltal, or they could be in danger as well.

"Carlos, we have to tell them," Diancie told him.

Everyone turned to look at Diancie. "What do you mean?" Gears asked.

Carlos sighed. "I wasn't... in control of myself. My mind was temporarily corrupted by a legendary. She called herself Yveltal." Everyone gasped upon hearing that name. "Me and Diancie were able to fight her off, though."

"Hmm... this is serious," Herb said.

"Agreed. But what reason could she have for corrupting you?" Ivy asked.

"She wanted to use him as her slave," Diancie said. "Since I chose him, she wants to end it all by making sure he can't stop her."

"Well, she'll have to get through us first!" Raptor declared. The others nodded in agreement.

"Guys," Carlos said. "What happened while I was corrupted?"

Nova looked at him sadly. "Well..."

* * *

_FLASHBACK (3rd Person POV)_

**_(PS77: Just so you know, this is Major Boss Fight #3 in the others' perspectives, so use the same music from the fight with Yveltal.)_**

_Carlos immediately charged at Hazel as his paw gained a dark-looking aura. "Obsidian Slash!" he yelled as he attempted to slash at her. Luckily, Ruby got in the way and blocked it with fury swipes just in time._

_"Carlos, what are you doing!?" Ruby asked._

_"Get out of my WAY!" Carlos screamed as he used the force from his attack to knock Ruby away._

_"That can't be Carlos..." Vixi muttered._

_Anubis looked at her, along with the others. "What do you mean?" he asked._

_Vixi closed her eyes. "Darkfang... You feel it, right? All the dark power radiating from Carlos."_

_Darkfang nodded. "The kid's right... Something's wrong about him..."_

_Hazel, meanwhile, was able to dodge another Obsidian Slash. Carlos, however, had gotten extremely annoyed. Suddenly, he began to charge up power. "Shadow Bolt!" he shouted, firing a dark purple bolt of lightning at Hazel. It made contact, causing Hazel to scream in agony, which only compelled Carlos to put more power into the attack._

_"Guys, we've gotta help her!" Anubis said, watching Hazel writhe in pain._

_Ruby nodded. "Everyone, focus your attacks on Carlos!" However, she noticed that everyone else had hidden, so that only left her, Darkfang, Dusty, Katty, Team Poképals, Anubis, Vixi, Sally, Raptor, Gears, Lily, Lulu, Zee, and Paul._

_Ruby then decided her plan of attack. "Paul and Raptor, take the kids and princesses and hide behind us!" The two fighting types nodded and took Anubis, Vixi, Lily and Lulu to hide behind a bush._

_Ruby looked back at Carlos. "Hazel, hit him with a Flame Burst!" Hazel complied and shot one at Carlos, knocking him back a bit._

_"Attack, NOW!" Ruby ordered. She used Fury Swipes, Sally used Quick Attack, Zee used Hidden Power, Dusty used Slam, Katty used Feint Attack, Piplup used Bubblebeam, and Chimchar used Flame Wheel. All of the attacks collided with Carlos, and he was engulfed in a cloud of sand. The others cheered victoriously, but when the sand dissipated, Carlos was perfectly intact._

_"W-What?" Ruby said in shock._

_Carlos smirked. "How pitiful. Now it's time to-" Before he could finish, however, he fell to the ground with a pained face. His fur then lost its black marking and slowly returned to its original yellow color._

* * *

"That must've been when you defeated Yveltal and reverted," Zee said.

"I see..." Carlos said, looking down at the ground. All of a sudden, he bolted back to his room.

Everyone pitied him. "Maybe that was too much for him to handle..." Ruby said.

Diancie got off her chair and floated towards the room that Carlos ran in. "I should go talk to him."

* * *

When Diancie entered the room, she saw Carlos, crying into a pillow softly.

"Carlos..." Diancie said sympathetically.

"... Why me..." he said. It was barely audible.

Diancie looked confused. "Pardon? I didn't quite get that."

Carlos looked at her, his eyes slightly red from crying. "Why me!? Why do I have to be the Chosen One!?"

Diancie blinked. "Because you're pure of-"

"No! I'm not pure or anything!" Carlos screamed. "I can't do this! Everyone expects me to be some OP hero that always pulls through!"

"And you always have," Diancie reminded him.

"Have you ever considered how I feel!?" Carlos screamed angrily at her. "You say I'm pure of heart, but everyday I'm forced to kill innocent bystanders because of this darkness. And now it's making me try to kill my friends! I just want it all to end..."

Diancie sat down next to Carlos and embraced him with a hug, which he gladly accepted.

"I understand how you feel..." Diancie said after a long time.

Carlos broke away from the hug and looked at her. "W-What do you mean?"

Diancie sighed. "Being the leader of the Legendary Guardians. It isn't easy fighting an impossible battle, especially when everyone's counting on you." A single tear rolled down her cheek.

Carlos wiped away his own and stared at her. "I'm sorry... I was so insensitive before..."

"Do not worry. I understand the need to let go every now and then," Diancie said. "Do you feel better now?"

Carlos smiled. "Yeah... Thanks."

"It is no problem," Diancie said with a smile of her own. Then she grew serious. "Forgive me, but... I have a difficult favor to ask of you."

"Sure, what is it?" Carlos asked.

"I would like for you to accompany me to Crevice Canyon," Diancie told him. "It is where the Legendary Guardians meet. I would like for you to get the chance to meet them, and so that we may discuss the whereabouts of Yveltal."

"Okay, then," Carlos said. "Should I go get my friends?"

Diancie shook her head. "Crevice Canyon is our hideaway from Yveltal's forces. We would be much less noticeable if it was just the two of us. Besides, the others turned in for the night."

Carlos nodded. "I understand. Let's go, then." With that settled, the two quietly made their way down the castle halls. When they got to the gate, they were fairly surprised to find that Paul was on guard.

He soon took notice of them behind him. "Hello, you two."

"Paul, what are you doing out here?" Carlos asked.

"A guard's job is never done," Paul replied. "I'm the one who should be asking you that question. It's very late."

"It's urgent," Diancie told him. After explaining their intentions to him, Paul nodded. "Very well. Just be careful."

"We will. Thanks!" Carlos said. Led by Diancie, the two of them walked towards a rocklike formation in the distance.

* * *

"Well, here we are," Diancie said as she looked around the dungeon entrance. "Crevice Canyon."

Carlos looked around too. "Wow, it's a lot dustier than I thought it'd be."

"Yes, well there's no time to waste," Diancie said as she and Carlos entered the mystery dungeon.

* * *

**Crevice Canyon**

**1F** \- There was barely anything to keep him from falling off of a cliff, so Carlos made sure to be extra prepared for any kind of sneak attack.

The two of them made their way down a narrow corridor. An ariados was heading their way, but they saw it long before it could ever reach them.

Diancie fired a Moonblast at the spider, making it instantly faint.

"Look. The stairs are in that next room," Diancie said, pointing towards the room that the ariados came from. Carlos nodded and they walked towards them.

**2F** \- They had the luck to spawn right in front of two dodrio. Carlos was then bombarded with a series of Fury Attacks from the both of them. He tried to hit one with Spark, but they both ran out of the way with Agility. One of them then decided to attack Diancie. However, she was able to one-shot it with a Diamond Storm.

Carlos, meanwhile, was still failing to hit the other dodrio, as it kept taunting him by using Agility.

"Stand still!" Carlos yelled in frustration. He leapt at the flightless bird with his fangs covered in blue electricity and bit down hard, causing the foe to instantly faint.

Carlos got up. "Whoa..."

"It appears that you have learned Thunder Fang!" Diancie said happily.

Carlos thought of his moves, but he wasn't able to remember Spark. "well, let's keep on going," Carlos said. Luckily, the stairs were just in the next room.

**3F** \- "Ah, it appears that luck is on our side," Diancie said, noticing that the stairs were right next to them.

**4F** \- Unfortunately, their luck had to run out sometime. At least they were able to find a grass gummi, 156 poké, and an odd-looking box.

"What IS this thing?" Carlos asked.

"A link cable," Diancie said. "It's complicated, but basically you and another pokémon can use it to link two of your moves and perform a combo move."

Carlos seemed very pleased by the idea. "Cool, I'll be sure to hang onto this," he said, putting the link cable in his bag. As they walked further, they finally found the stairs, but not before being intercepted by a bunnelby, which began by picking up globs of mud with its ears and throwing them at the two protagonists. Due to their typing, both were fairly hurt.

"Carlos! We must power through!" Diancie said as she fired an Ancientpower at the bunnelby, fainting right after Carlos followed up with a Bite.

"Come... Let us press on..." Diancie said, once again leading Carlos up the stairs.

**5F** \- The two of them spawned next to the stairs and 67 poké. "Thank goodness..." Diancie said. Carlos picked up the 67 poké.

"Diancie, you need to rest," Carlos said, pulling out two apples from his bag. He held one out. "Let's eat."

Diancie smiled as she took the offered apple. "Very well," she said. The two of them sat for only a minute or two before ascending the stairs.

**6F** \- Carlos saw an oran berry. When he tried to put it in his bag, however...

"Dang it! My bag's full!" Carlos complained.

"You may have to use up a few of your items or put them in storage," Diancie said.

"Hmm..." Carlos said, pulling out two pure seeds. He looked at Diancie, who caught on to his idea. He ate the pure seed and was suddenly teleported to the staircase.

**7F** \- Diancie soon appeared beside him.

"You can eat it this time," Carlos said, holding the seed out to Diancie, who took it politely. "Thank you," she said, eating the seed and promptly teleporting away. It only took Carlos two seconds after that to feel the sensation of being teleported.

* * *

Carlos and Diancie, finally done with the dungeon, kept on walking down a straight path that led to a summit.

"That dungeon was kind of short," Carlos remarked.

Diancie nodded. "We figured that that it was the least suspicious place." As they climbed to the top of the mountain, he took the time to marvel at the amazing view.

Diancie floated up next to him and stared into the distance as well. "When we rid the world of this darkness... I hope that everyone can admire a view this beautiful." She then went over to a particular rock and pressed her hand against it. Carlos was confused, but suddenly, one of the rock's sections slid apart, revealing a hidden stairway.

"Whoa..." Carlos said in awe.

Diancie led Carlos down the staircase. Soon, the two of them arrive in a white room with doors on each side.

"Stay here. I'll go find the others," Diancie said, going through a door on the left.

Carlos took that time to look at the room he was in. Most of it was ivory. Well... the whole thing was ivory. Including four pillars that must've been the foundation of the whole rooms. Carlos noticed a large, square table in the middle of the room, along with short cylinders that he could only describe as chairs. They were assembled around the table in a 3 by 3 manner. Each seat had a red velvet pillow for comfort. To top off the room's posh design, green and golden wreaths adorned the walls.

"NOOOOO!"

Carlos was instantly snapped out of his observation by the all-too familiar scream. He bolted for the door he saw Diancie enter. When he opened it, he saw the room's style. It was in shambles. The most visible aspects were the torn walls and destroyed artifacts.

Diancie was on the ground, looking at a note in her hand, tears in her eyes.

Carlos ran up to her. "Diancie, are you okay!?" Carlos asked in worry. The legendary slowly shook her head and showed Carlos the note. He read it.

_If you ever wanna see your friends again, you'll surrender yourself and that "Chosen One" of yours over to the darkness. You've got 20 days! Starting tomorrow!_

_Yveltal_

Carlos looked back at Diancie with sympathy. "Oh... I'm so sorry."

Diancie, however, merely wiped her tears away. "Wait... There is... another way to get them back..."

Carlos' ears perked. "Really? There is?"

Diancie nodded. "Yes... Carlos. Will you please stand by me the whole time, even if it gets tough?"

Carlos nodded. "I will, don't worry. So, what do we have to do?"

"We must seek out a pokémon by the name of Hoopa," Diancie said. "We do not know the whereabouts of the other Legendary Guardians, but he will. For now, let us return to the palace and tell the others of our plan."

"Got it," Carlos said as they left the wreckage that was once Diancie's hideout. As they walked back, Carlos rubbed his head in pain. It was just flooding with questions. He thought about the Legendary Guardians._ "Who are they? They must've been close to Diancie, but... What do they have to do with all this? Why would Yveltal kidnap them?"_

That caused him to think about Yveltal. _"Who is she? Why does she want to bring darkness? And why does she make a big deal out of making me some kind of servant to her? Does she think I'm powerful... or is there another reason at play?"_

His mind then drifted to the alakazam he saw before he was framed for murder. _"That alakazam... his name was Magul or something. How did he know that going to the guild would get me into a situation like that? Who is he? Is he on my side? Will he ever warn me again?"_

He thought about Sharese. _"Just who is she? One second she tries to kill me, then she tries to help me, then she wants me to join her. I wonder... Up until now, I thought Sharese was the leader of some criminal organization, but... are she and Yveltal connected somehow? Maybe she works for Yveltal?_

He thought about the mysterious deino he saw in his dream. _"His name... It was Ziru? But I've never seen him before, so why was he in my dream? And why did it end so abruptly? Wait... my Dimensional Scream... maybe that dream was some sort of premonition! But a premonition of what? What if it isn't a premonition at all?"_

He thought about Hazel and Nova. _"Nova... she's amazing, but... that kiss Hazel gave me back in Fogbound Lake... It's still fresh in my mind. But why? I like Nova, but... was I too hard on Hazel? Should I... forgive her? And Nova... could there be anything she's hiding from me? How is she the leader of a clan? And why did she fall for me so quickly? She didn't even know me."_

Finally, he thought of himself. For that, there was only one thing he wanted to know:

_"Who am I?"_

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there you have it! Sorry, I wanted to post this on Friday night, but I got the game, and... Procrastination issues. Which I'm sure you're used to seeing out of me. Anyways, I still need to take a bit of a break, so the next chapter will probably be uploaded by early January. Sorry, but I think I should write a few in advance. After all, this is a REALLY long story arc. See you then!**

**BTW, what team would you want in that game? For me, it's one of my favorite pairings - a male Riolu and a female Fennekin. Also, yay for capping 100k words!**


	36. Chapter 32: Heading to Easlic

**Author's Note: I'm back, and just in time for Christmas Blitz. I'm updating ALL of my stories, in case you follow those, too! Merry Christmas, everyone!**

* * *

**Dawn of Day 1 / 20**

"WHAT!?" everyone had said back at Wesali Palace. When Carlos and Diancie returned to the palace, it was already morning so the king and queen were awake. Just now, they had assembled Carlos' allies, Kelvin, Gears' father, and even Team Infinity to hear what happened. And they were all shocked.

"All the legendaries in the council were kidnapped!?" Herb asked again in disbelief.

Diancie nodded. "But I plan to find the legendary Hoopa to get them back. Carlos has agreed to help me, but you can choose not to."

Everyone immediately protested to the idea of not helping her. "Don't be silly. This affects us as much as it affects you," Sally told her.

"Yeah, so don't worry. You've got our help for sure," Blake said, agreeing with Sally's statement. The others nodded

Diancie smiled. "Thank you all. Your help means much to me." She then turned to Garrison. "I have already filled you in on why I needed you here. Have you brought it?"

Garrison nodded and handed Diancie a yellow, star-shaped device. It had a hole on each of its ends, including one large hole in the center. Diancie grasped it firmly and closed her eyes. Light began flowing from her crystalline hair and into a device. Suddenly, the center hole flashed and revealed a number. Also, one of the star's points shone light towards the east.

"Whoa, what was that?" Carlos asked in wonder.

Diancie opened her eyes. "I had Garrison make a device that can channel crystal energy. You see, in order to find Hoopa, we are going to need six ancient treasures: the ruby, sapphire, emerald, gold and amethyst crystals."

"So what does that star do?" Vixi asked.

"The crystals, in a way, are connected to me, so with this device, we can pinpoint the location of the crystals," Diancie explained to her.

"Cool. So where are they?" Anubis asked.

"Hmm... According to these results, there is a huge energy reading towards the east," Diancie observed.

"Ah, it must be pointing towards Easlic," Ivy mused.

Ruby tensed up when she heard the name of the capital that constantly gave her a sense of dread. "U-Um... Easlic?" Carlos, Vixi, Anubis and Sally instantly gave her pitying looks, knowing fully what caused Ruby to act so nervous.

Diancie nodded. "Yes, the ancient capital. With an energy reading this big, I'm assuming that most of the crystals are there."

Ruby turned around and headed to a vacant guest room, where she closed the door.

"... Did I say something to upset her?" Diancie asked.

"We'd better check on her," Carlos said to the other three. They nodded and the four of them went into the room as well.

Diancie turned to Team Infinity. "I appreciate how you helped Carlos when he was framed. If we need your help, I'll let you know. For now, I would like you to try and find the whereabouts of the other crystals. The device isn't picking up any more readings, for some reason."

Blake nodded. "Okay, then." He looked at the rest of his team. "Come on, guys," he said as they all left the palace.

* * *

"Ruby... are you alright?" Carlos asked, concerned for the glameow. She did nothing but look at the ground sadly.

"Ruby, if you don't want to go, then you can stay here with the king and queen," Sally suggested.

"... No. It's okay," Ruby said, slowly getting up with a look of determination on her face. "I've been scared of going to Easlic for a long time, and I think it's tormented me for long enough. I'm going with you guys."

"... If you're sure," Sally said. "But let's regroup with the others for now." The five of them headed back to the center of the palace, where everyone seemed to be discussing something.

"Hey, where'd Team Infinity go?" Anubis asked, noticing that Blake, Hailey, Kevin and Felix weren't present.

"I asked them to snoop around for whereabouts on the other crystals," Diancie replied. "As for us, we decided that it would be best if we were to split up in groups. What do you say, Carlos?"

"Good idea. I don't think they'll be too thrilled with outsiders," Carlos said. "How do you want to divide the groups?"

Diancie thought to herself for a moment. "Hmm... Perhaps two large groups?"

"Sounds good to me," Carlos said. "How about I go with Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Ruby, Sally, Lily and Nova, while you go with Piplup, Chimchar, Lulu, Paul, Raptor and Gears?"

Diancie nodded. "Agreed. Let us take some time to prepare for our journey."

"All right. I'm gonna go organize my items," Carlos said. As he left to go to his room, however, Ivy stopped him.

"Before you do, be sure to place your items in this new bag," she told him, holding out a brand new bag that appeared to be made of fine brown leather.

"Thank you, Queen Ivy!" Carlos said, admiring the new bag's qualities.

Ivy smiled. "Consider it as my final act of apology."

_**Carlos' item capacity has increased from 24 to 30!**_

"Speak with me when you are ready to go," Diancie told Carlos. He nodded and went to his room, where he emptied out the guild treasure bag and took a look at his items.

"Okay, let's see..." Carlos mused to himself. "Seven geo pebbles, a pecha berry, three apples, a big apple, two oran berries, a max elixir, two blast seeds, a health orb, a foe-fear orb, a reviver seed, nine iron thorns, a stun seed, a dough seed, a violent seed, a yellow gummi, a blue gummi, a grass gummi, two pure seeds, and a link cable.

"All right, then," he nodded to himself, placing the link cable, iron thorns, reviver seed, max elixir, apples, health orb, violent seed and dough seed in the guild treasure bag, and put all the other items in his new bag.

He then grew a bit worried. _"I really hope this is fake leather,"_ he thought, but he quickly refocused on his current task. He picked up both bags and left the room.

* * *

"I'm gonna go deposit some items," Carlos said as he left the room and headed for the palace gates. Some of the others had business to attend to, the only ones remaining in the main room were Sally, Ruby, Darkfang, Diancie and Lily, who perked up at what Carlos said.

"Wait. I should go with you, so you don't get lost," Lily said, leading Carlos outside.

* * *

Now that he was no longer considered a murderer, Carlos took the time to admire the town square. It appeared to have the same facilities as Treasure Town, along with a few others.

"Wow... I never really noticed how big this town is," Carlos said in awe.

"Well, it is the capital of this region," Lily told him.

"Good point," Carlos replied. "So, where are the shop and storage areas in this town?"

"They're just up ahead," Lily said, pointing forward. Carlos looked and was shocked by the familiar sight.

"Kecleon!? Kangaskhan!?" he shouted in utter disbelief, seeing the two shop owners, who simply smiled and waved back at him in reply.

"W-What are you guys doing here?" Carlos asked confusedly, walking up to them.

They, however, looked confused. "Um... Do we know you?" Kecleon asked.

Carlos was even more shocked by this. "Yes! Do you already not remember Treasure Town?"

That's when it dawned on the two. "Ohh... You mean our coworkers? There are plenty of us all around the world. You must be talking about them," Kangaskhan explained.

"Oh," Carlos said simply. "Well, first of all, I'd like to deposit some items."

"Gladly!" Kangaskhan said happily.

Lily sweatdropped. "Wow, he sure got over that quickly."

"Put this under Team Destiny," Carlos said, emptying the guild treasure bag. Kangaskhan took the items and placed them in storage.

"Oh, I almost forgot - can you delete Dusty, Katty and Hazel from the account?" Carlos asked. Kangaskhan seemed confused, but nodded and did what he said.

"Thanks," Carlos said.

"Anytime. Come again soon!" Kangaskhan said.

Carlos then turned to look at Kecleon. "What are you selling today?"

"Well, I happen to have some extra stock, so you're in luck!" Kecleon said gleefully. "I've got x-eye seeds for 125 poké, luminous orbs for 200 poké, a Shadow Ball TM for 3,000 poké, reviver seeds for 800 poké, big apples for 150 poké, and a black gummi for 500 poké."

_"__Hmm... This might be a good time to binge on reviver seeds a bit,"_ Carlos thought. "Okay, I'll take six reviver seeds, two x-eye seeds, four luminous orbs and a big apple."

Kecleon put the items on the table as Carlos was reciting them. "Here you go. That'll be 6,000 poké." Carlos handed him the money and put one of each item in his bag. He deposited the rest in storage.

"Wow, you've certainly gained a lot of money," Lily marveled. "Perhaps you should create a bank account."

"A bank account?" Carlos asked. Lily nodded and motioned towards another shop, which was run by an eelektross. "Over there is Eelektross Bank. She can store your money, so you won't have to worry about losing it in a dungeon."

"Well... Okay," Carlos said, walking to the store with Lily. "Hello. I'd like to make an account, please."

"Of course! Anything for our hero!" Eelektross said happily. She had a high-pitched and spunky voice.

"Uh... Okay," Carlos said, feeling a bit awkward that he was now apparently a local celebrity. "Well, I'd like to deposit 4,035 poké." He put the poké on the counter, and Eelektross placed it all in a jug with Carlos' name on it. He noticed that there were a lot of jugs like that one behind the store.

_"__Wow..."_ he thought awkwardly.

"Will that be all?" Eelektross asked. Carlos and Lily nodded. "Come again soon," she said, waving goodbye as the two Pokémon made their way back to the castle.

* * *

"We're back," Carlos said when he and Lily entered the palace.

"Have you made your preparations?" Diancie asked him.

"Yeah. We should get going now. Are the others ready?" Carlos asked. Just as he finished talking, the pokémon in his group all gathered around him.

"We always are," Nova said, latching herself onto Carlos, as usual.

"Good to know," Carlos said with a smile. He looked at Ruby. "Are you sure you're ready, Ruby?"

The glameow nodded triumphantly. "Yes. I'm done being scared."

"Wait, I almost forgot!" Diancie said, startling everyone. She pulled out a white pad from seemingly nowhere and gave it to Carlos. "Garrison has been making these for a while and selling them everywhere, and so he figured that it would help you have one."

Carlos stared at the device curiously. "What is this thing?"

"It's called the U-Chat. You can use it to communicate with others from far away," Diancie said. "You can send written or voice mail."

"Um... It kind of looks like a Wii U game pad," Carlos remarked.

"No, it's U-Chat!" Diancie said loudly in protest.

Carlos was confused by her reaction. "... But it really looks like a-"

"Just go to the dungeon already!" Diancie said, shoving Carlos and his team out of the palace before the matter could be discussed any further.

* * *

**Easlic Ruins**

"Gee, I guess Diancie didn't want copyright or something," Carlos muttered as the team of eight arrived at the mystery dungeon entrance.

"Wow... I've heard of these ruins, but they're amazing up close..." Nova said, looking at the scenery. It was a forest area with more than a few rock formations.

"Yeah... Let's just hope this dungeon is all we have to deal with," Sally said. They all made their way into the ruins.

**B1F** \- The inside of the dungeon was also quite a sight to behold. There were a good amount of trees and rocks, most of them slightly covered in moss. Even through the warm sun, it was still very shady in the ruins, thanks to the towering trees.

"Well, let's get going," Darkfang said. The others nodded and, led by Carlos, walked to the next room, only to instantly find the stairs there.

"Oh..." Carlos said.

"Well, that was anticlimactic..." Anubis remarked as they descended the stairs.

**B2F** \- On the second floor, they had the misfortune of spawning with a fearow.

"Take this!" Carlos said, leaping at the foe, biting them hard with Thunder Fang. However, the bird got back up and violently pecked him with a Fury Attack.

"Owowowowowow!" Carlos yelled in pain by getting pecked by such a large beak.

"I've got it!" Sally said, firing an Icy Wind at the fearow, knocking it out. Sally then helped Carlos up. "You okay."

"Yeah... Thanks for the help," Carlos said as the team got back on track and went to the next room, where they found 138 poké. Carlos picked it up and led his team forward, where they saw the stairs being blocked by a lileep. Unfortunately, it saw them and began advancing towards Vixi.

"Stay away, ya creep!" Anubis said, hitting the lileep with Force Palm, which knocked it out cold. With that done, they all went down the stairs.

**B3F** \- Much to their relief, the stairs were in the chamber they spawned in, along with a black gummi and a geodude.

The geodude took note of them and angrily picked up a rock, throwing it at them. They all scattered to avoid the impact.

"Watch out for its Rock Throw!" Ruby said, dodging another one and hitting the geodude with Fury Swipes. It didn't do much, though.

"Hold on!" Sally shouted, running over and slamming the geodude with Metal Claw.

Ruby sighed and wiped the sweat from her head. "Phew... Thanks, Sally," she said gratefully.

"No prob," Sally replied. They all regrouped, and Carlos picked up the black gummi and led everyone to the stairs.

**B4F** \- "Wow, this trap scarf is actually kind of hot," Carlos remarked, taking it off his neck and stuffing it in the bag.

"Um, are you sure you should take it off?" Vixi asked shyly. "You don't really have a good history with traps..."

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Carlos said, stepping forward pridefully.

And triggering a pitfall trap in the process.

"DAMMIIIIIIIIT!" Carlos exclaimed as he fell to the next floor.

"Well, at least it was convenient..." Lily remarked as the other seven felt the sensation of being teleported to the next floor.

**B5F** \- Carlos was in a daze by the time they arrived.

"Ow..." Carlos said, hurt by the impact of his landing.

Vixi shook her head slightly and walked slowly to Carlos. "... See? You need to be more-" She paused and felt something under her paws. She looked down.

A pitfall trap.

"You were saying?" Carlos said with a slightly smug expression.

"EEEEEEEEEEP!" Vixi cried as she fell. The rest of the group was then teleported to the next floor.

**B6F** \- Okay, this is not coming off," Carlos said as he tied the trap scarf around his neck once more.

"Ooh, the stairs are already here!" Anubis said, seeing the stairs a few paces beside him.

**B7F** \- The eight of them spawned in a room with 79 poké and a gold ribbon.

Carlos picked the items up and noticed that the bag was starting to get full. He turned to his friends, holding the yellow, grass, black, and blue gummi.

"I think we should all eat," he said. The others were in agreement, and so they took a gummi and shared. Carlos shared the yellow gummi with Nova, Lily shared the grass gummi with Sally, Darkfang shared the black gummi with Vixi, and Ruby shared the blue gummi with Anubis.

Once they were all filled by the snack, they headed to the next room, where they saw a sleeping nosepass.

Anubis quickly dashed up to it and hit it with a very effective Rock Smash, which was able to knock it out. In the next chamber, they found the stairs, along with a white gummi that was given to Ruby.

**B8F** \- The team was walking through a chamber, when Anubis felt something beneath him. Scared that it might've been a pitfall trap, jumped back in fright.

"Whoa. Anubis, I think you found the hidden bazaar," Sally said. Anubis looked in front of him and, sure enough, there was a set of stairs.

**Hidden Bazaar** \- Upon entering the bazaar and being greeted by kirlia again, the eight explorers went over to mime jr. to restore their health, PP and belly.

**B10F** \- As soon as they spawned in the chamber, Darkfang set off an explosion trap that ended up damaging everyone in the way.

When the smoke cleared, everyone was glaring at Darkfang.

"What!? I'm sorry!" Darkfang shouted defensively. They all just groaned and headed for the next chamber, which would thankfully house the stairs.

"Touchy," Darkfang muttered before following.

**B11F** \- "This should be the last floor, I believe," Lily said. They had spawned in the same room as an exeggcute and a spearow.

"Split up!" Sally shouted as everyone dove out of the range of the Peck and Confusion. Carlos hit the spearow with Thunder Fang, and Sally used her Icy Wind to knock it out. Meanwhile, Darkfang and Vixi effortlessly endured another Confusion thrown by the exeggcute. When it was over, they both need it with a Bite and Feint Attack combo.

"Alright, let's get to finding the stairs," Anubis said.

"Nah, I'm kind of tired of walking," Carlos remarked as he pulled a pure seed out of his bag and ate it, teleporting away.

His friends were not amused.

"Cheater," Sally said, shaking her head before they were all teleported with Carlos descending the stairs.

* * *

To the eight's relief, the eleventh floor was the last one of the dungeon, and they had made it to a clearing. They could see a city in the distance.

"That must be Easlic. We're almost there," Lily said.

"Hm... You're a l-lot earlier than I t-thought!" a voice said from out of nowhere.

"That voice..." Anubis said, seeming to remember it. Everyone else slowly realized who the voice belonged to.

"Evan?" Carlos called out. Almost immediately, the zoroark jumped from one of the trees and landed on the ground.

Everyone thought they'd be reassured to see him again, since he wasn't exactly a violent antagonist-type...

But something was off.

Evan was breathing very raggedly, as if he had just run a marathon. Upon closer inspection, they could see that Evan's eyes were much more read than normal, and that he had an extremely sadistic grin, letting his sharp teeth show. He was known to be a bit crazy, but it seemed a bit over-the-top this time.

And he stuttered. Being the calm, collected individual he was, Evan never stuttered.

"I w-was wond-daring when you s-sc-sc-scumbags would c-c-c-come by here," Evan said, his sadistic smile never faltering.

That was when they all understood. He wasn't stuttering out of fear. His craziness must have overwhelmed him.

"Um... So, have you got any intel for us?" Carlos asked nervously, hoping to break the ice.

"... Yesss... I do," Evan said darkly. He was rolling the letter 's', much to the others' nervousness, which instantly turned to terror once Evan pulled out a katana and pointed it's sharp end right at Carlos' throat.

"Damn kid..." Darkfang muttered, preparing to give Evan a piece of his mind. Ruby noticed his resolve, however, and outstretched her paw to stop him.

"Wait... If he wanted to kill us, he would've done it already," she reminded him. Darkfang sighed and backed off.

"Anyways..." Evan said, his attention clearly fixated on Carlos, "I'm only h-here t-to let you off with a w-warning. St-Stay out of master Yveltal's way, unless y-you really d-do have a death wish..."

With that said, Evan backed away and took a stance that looked like he would charge at them, prompting Carlos and the others to take stances. Suddenly, the world flashed white around them, and they were forced to shut their eyes.

"Everyone! Don't let your guard down!" Carlos prompted.

When the light faded, they all uncovered their eyes.

Evan was nowhere to be seen.

"What...?" Vixi said, looking around.

"Where did that zoroark go?" Lily asked, searching as well.

"... I guess it really was a warning," Carlos said. "In any case, we should head to Easlic. Diancie said that she and the others will meet us there soon. They all nodded and headed for the rural-looking city. All the while, Ruby couldn't stop thinking about what would happen. Would the citizens have forgotten about her? Or would they try to kill her? It was unsettling to think about...

Her gaze wandered to a small satchel she had on. It had the money to compensate for everything she stole in Easlic. She was once again grateful that the king and queen gave it to her. She would feel a lot better repenting for her actions.

_"__Right... I can't give up! Not now! There's no going back,"_ she thought triumphantly with a nod.

* * *

Finally, after about 30 minutes of walking, Carlos, Nova, Lily, Darkfang, Anubis, Vixi, Sally and Ruby had all arrived in Easlic. It wasn't a relatively large city. All of its houses were made of wood, including the shop stalls. There were streams of water running down its borders. There was a brick palace in the city's center, as well.

"Wow. This town is definitely as rural as I heard," Nova said, admiring the sights around her.

Ruby and Sally, however, felt uneasy due to the stares they were receiving from the villagers. There were a variety of shocked expressions and fearful glances, but there were mostly glares full of hate.

"Guys, just ignore them," Carlos said, noticing the slowly escalating tension.

"Yeah, he's right. These morons don't know who you really are," Darkfang added.

They smiled. It looked like they were feeling better about the situation.

"You eight! Stop where you are this instant!"

Having a strong feeling that the call was referring to them, they stopped, unknowing of who the regal and authoritative voice could've belonged to.

Ruby, as she feared, had a good guess of who the voice belonged to.

When they turned around to look, her fears were confirmed.

Three furret and three linoone guards had surrounded them, holding spears and pointing them towards them. In front of them, a glaceon walked forward. She wore purple and white robes of silk.

_"__So this must be the queen that never even gave Ruby a chance,"_ Darkfang thought, suppressing his anger. He glanced at Carlos, who glanced back. It seemed that they were having similar thoughts. Ruby and Sally stood there uneasily, and the other four felt very uncomfortable in their situation.

The queen's gazed drifted towards every one of them. She stared at Sally for a bit longer, until her gaze finally rested on Ruby, who stared back fearfully.

The queen began to walk towards Ruby in a calm manner with a stern look in her eyes. That was enough for Carlos and Darkfang to leap in between Ruby and the glaceon.

"You're not laying a paw on her!" Darkfang shouted. That statement spoke for the both of them as they bared their fangs, Carlos' glowing with electricity.

The guards immediately tensed up and gripped their spears tightly, but the queen merely raised an eyebrow at the threat.

The queen took a deep breath. Darkfang became less tense, believing that the queen was ready to talk reasonably.

Instead, she fired a powerful Icy Wind at Darkfang, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.

"Darkfang!" Vixi screams as she and Sally rush over to see if he's okay. Unfortunately, it looked as if he was knocked unconscious.

Carlos cast a worried glance over to the unconscious poochyena before glaring at the queen. "What's your deal!? You could've killed him!"

The queen let out a light chuckle. "Kill him? No... My Icy Wind is meant to knock pokémon out. Like this." As soon as she finished talking, she unleashed an Icy Wind that knocked out all of Carlos' friends, save for Ruby, who was trembling uncontrollably.

That was the last straw for Carlos. "You piece of-" was all he could say when he attempted to Tackle the queen. Before he could make contact, her tail glowed silver before she slammed it into him, knocking him away.

"Guards. Tie up his friends and lock them in the dungeon," the queen said. The six guards nodded and grabbed the unconscious pokémon and took them somewhere.

Carlos was quickly fading due to the nasty impact the queen's iron tail. She walked over to him and kneeled down to look at him eye-to-eye. "You and that child murderer are coming with me." Carlos had one more thought before blacking out.

_"__Every... freaking... queen... wants me... dead. Damn."_

* * *

**Author's Note: Well, there goes part 1 of Christmas Blitz. Oh, in case you don't know, Christmas Blitz is a time between Christmas and New Years where I update each of my stories. By the way, here's my update schedule. Yep, I finally made one-**

**Jan. 1 - 15: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: My Guardian Angel**

**Jan. 16 - 31: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny**

**Feb. 1 - 15: MLP: Defenders of Equestria**

**Feb. 16 - 29: Hybrid Mystery Dungeon: The Spectrum Gates**

**Mar. 1 - 15: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny**

**Mar. 16 - 31: Total Drama Kalos Island**

**Apr. 1 - 15: Legend of Spyro: Boundaries of Life**

**Apr. 16 - 30: Writing Break**

**May 1 - 15: MLP: Defenders of Equestria**

**May 16 - 31: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: My Guardian Angel**

**Jun. 1 - 15: Hybrid Mystery Dungeon: The Spectrum Gates**

**Jun. 16 - 30: Writing Break**

**Jul. 1 - 15: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny**

**Jul. 16 - 31: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny**

**Aug. 1 - 15: Hybrid Mystery Dungeon: The Spectrum Gates**

**Aug. 16 - 31: Total Drama Kalos Island**

**Sep. 1 - 15: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: My Guardian Angel**

**Sep. 16 - 30: MLP: Defenders of Equestria**

**Oct. 1 - 15: Legend of Spyro: Boundaries of Life**

**Oct. 16 - 31: Total Drama Kalos Island**

**Nov. 1 - 15: Writing Break**

**Nov. 16 - 30: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: My Guardian Angel**

**Dec. 1 - 15: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Warriors of Destiny**

**Dec. 16 - 31: MLP: Defenders of Equestria**

**In case you're wondering, PMD: My Guardian Angel is a story I plan to have up by New Years Day. I hope you all get the chance to read it. Anyways, next up on Christmas Blitz will be Legend of Spyro, which will be either updated tomorrow or the day after. See ya, and Merry Christmas!**


	37. Chapter 33: Giver of Justice (?)

**Author's Note: Hey, I'm back! I'm really sorry for the delay, but it looks like my update schedule anytime soon. So I've decided to just write random chapters and then always update at the end of the month. This schedule should be permanent, so don't worry about me slacking off anymore, especially since the end of school is right around the corner. Anyways, let's get this chapter out of the way.**

* * *

Meanwhile, in the palace of Easlic, a young eevee was sitting at her desk, reading a book and taking notes on it. The eevee, however, was shiny.

A timer went off. The eevee looked over at it before closing the book and letting out a sigh.

_"Another heap of paperwork done..."_ she thought gloomily to herself.

Suddenly, she heard some sort of commotion out side of the palace. Getting up, she walked over to her window and pushed the red velvet curtains aside. She saw the queen using her attacks to knock out a group of travelers. She then ordered the guards to drag them, save for a glameow and a shinx, to the dungeon. The other two were taken towards the palace itself.

The eevee sighed to herself. _"Oh, mother... What are you doing now?"_

* * *

Dusty and Katty were searching all over the guild for Hazel. They hadn't seen her in a while, and they were starting to get worried.

"Hazel, where are you?" Dusty called out, looking in the mess hall.

"Are you here, Hazel?" Katty asked aloud, checking the room with the bulletin boards.

"Where could she be?" Dusty asked, regrouping with Katty.

"I don't know, but I hope she's okay..." she replied worriedly. "She's been completely out of it for these past few days." At that moment, they saw Chatot exit the guildmaster's room.

"She's not in there, either..." Chatot said a bit worriedly.

"I hope she hasn't gotten into any trouble," Katty said.

* * *

Meanwhile, a bunch of linoone guards were shoving Carlos' friends in a cage. Once they were all secured, the guards shut the door and locked it.

"That'll keep 'em," one of the guards said.

"Good. Let's go tell Her Majesty," another said as they all left the dungeon area of the palace.

Darkfang angrily lashed out on the prison bars, but to no avail. "That damn queen... Who does she think she is!?"

"Calm down. We don't even know what she plans on doing to her, so don't jump to conclusions," Sally said dejectedly.

"What do you mean!? Didn't you see the way she looked at Ruby!? Nothing but malicious intent in those eyes," Darkfang said.

Sally could only sigh in response. "You may be right. She could have something really bad planned for Ruby... considering what she's done..."

"What she's done?" Darkfang asked in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Yeah, what ARE you talking about?" Nova asked questioningly.

"I would like to know, too. You two haven't brought this up before," Lily added, staring at Sally suspiciously.

Knowing that there was no way out of the situation without giving them an explanation, Sally recounted Ruby's recent past. How she was accused of murder, how the queen got angry, and how she covered Ruby's escape, but was thrown in jail.

They stared at her, wide-eyed, except for Anubis and Vixi, who already know the truth. "And she wasn't even given a fair trial!?" Nova asked in disbelief.

"To think that the queen would stoop so low..." Lily muttered.

"Hm. So that's why Mother escorted them to her chambers," a voice said, seemingly out of nowhere. The others looked around in confusion.

"Did you guys hear that?" Anubis asked for clarification.

"D-Do you think it was a g-g-ghost!?" Vixi cried out in a shrill voice.

"No, it was only me," the voice said again, directing everyone's attention to the front of their cell, where a shiny eevee was standing with a nonchalant expression.

"Who are you?" Sally asked.

"That can wait," the shiny eevee said, "but for now, did you just say that the glameow that Mother took with her is this 'Ruby' I've heard so much about?"

Darkfang huffed. "That's none of your busine- Wait, 'Mother' ?"

The shiny eevee nodded. "Yes, my mother is the queen whom you had been defeated by a few minutes ago."

Darkfang then growled in a menacing tone. "Good! Now I know who I'm taking hostage after I bust outta here!" It took Anubis, Vixi, Sally, Nova and Lily just to hold Darkfang back after that revelation, although they were shocked by it as well.

"Darkfang, just chill out!" Nova shouted in her struggle.

All the while, the eevee did not lose her composure. "You are in no position to be angry with me. On the contrary, I would like your help."

"Is that so? Hmph, this should be good," Darkfang said, clearly annoyed.

"I want you to kill my mother," the eevee said.

The impact of the eevee's words was enough to send the jailed heroes into a temporary state of shock. Even Darkfang, who was practically feral just a moment ago, was unresponsive.

Finally, after a long while, Sally was able to get over her shock for just a moment and speak for everyone else. "... W-What?"

"I-I want you to kill my mother... please..." the eevee said, her voice starting to break and her expression going from calm to desperate.

"Why?" Sally asked, completely confused by her request, as was everyone else.

"She... she hasn't been herself," the eevee told them. "She used to be a kind and noble ruler, showing mercy to even the most notorious outlaws. However... I do not know. I fear something might've changed in her."

"Changed in her? What do you mean?" Lily asked.

"I do not know... It's like... Something is possessing her," Viola replied.

Sally was in deep thought. "Hmm... That time in Treasure Town, Carlos was being controlled by Yveltal's influence. Could that be what's going on with the queen?"

"... Fine, we'll try to help in some way," Darkfang finally ceded. "But you need to get us out of here."

Viola nodded. "I would have to search my mother's bedchamber, but I believe the cell keys are there."

"Wait!" Sally said. Everyone looked at her. "First... Can you go find where your mother's keeping Ruby and Carlos?"

Viola nodded. "It is likely that she took them to the audience chamber. I will start there."

"Thanks," Sally told her gratefully as she left the prison chamber.

"Do you think we can trust her?" Lily asked

"I hope we can..." Sally replied.

* * *

"Ow... Everything hurts," Carlos groaned as he woke up. His body was still aching from the Iron Tail attack. He looked around and saw that he was in the castle. To his left, Ruby was on the floor, also unconscious. He looked to his right and saw another pokémon.

An aipom with a black bandana on his head, looking down dejectedly.

It was then that he took notice of Carlos being awake. "Oh. You're awake, huh?"

Carlos nodded. "Yeah... That damn queen knocked me out with an Iron Tail..."

The aipom smirked cheekily. "Hah! I've been there before, let me tell you that."

"You have?" Carlos asked in curiosity.

The aipom nodded in reply. "Yeah. Really sucks, though. All I wanted was one kiss, but now, here I am, about to receive whatever punishment I'm getting."

Carlos blinked a few times. "You tried to _kiss_ her?

"Well... Yeah," the aipom said matter-of-factly. "I mean, she's pretty hot."

"Um... I wouldn't say that. In fact, literally everything I've seen about her can only be described as stone cold," Carlos told him.

"Welcome to the club, then," the aipom said jokingly, extending his arm out. "Name's Ricky."

Carlos shook it. "I'm Carlos."

"Yeah, I know," Ricky said. "After that whole murder incident on the news, you've become pretty well-known, you know?"

"Wait, really?" Carlos asked. "Wow, that's kinda weird."

"I'd say lucky," Ricky told him. "You know, the way you survived in prison and led the jailbreak of the century to prove your innocence actually got you quite a bit of fans."

"It did? What kinds of fans?" Carlos asked.

"Man, you sure ask a lot. No surprise, I guess," Ricky muttered. "As for your question, your actions have made a bunch of little kids in the city look up to you like some sort of hero."

"Whoa..." Carlos breathed, amazed that he had become popular with a jailbreak of all things.

"Also, they want to follow in your footsteps," Ricky continued. "Which means every police officer hates your guts."

"Well... In their defense, I probably would, too. I mean, I kind of threw their hard work down the drain," Carlos replied. "... Actually, never mind. They would've done that themselves."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ricky asked curiously.

Carlos gulped nervously to himself. He didn't know if it was okay to tell Ricky of Magnezone's plan to 'empty' the prison. It sounded like he wanted to keep it confidential.

"Well..." Carlos began. At that moment, Ruby began to stir and her eyes opened slowly.

_"Thank Arceus,"_ Carlos thought as he and Ricky checked up on her. "Hey. Are you okay, Ruby?"

"Y-Yeah... Just a bit shaken up..." Ruby said as she got up, a bit unsteady. Here eyes then widened as she took note of Ricky being there as well.

Ricky smiled. "Hey, Ruby."

She rubbed her eyes a bit to be sure that she wasn't imagining it. "... Ricky? You're here?"

"Wait hold on- You two know each other?" Carlos asked, surprised.

Ruby nodded. "Back before I was branded a criminal, Ricky used to help me around the daycare center."

"Really? That's nice of you," Carlos said to Ricky.

"Yeah, I wanted a degree in childcare, and Ruby said she could write me a letter of recommendation," Ricky explained.

Carlos was about to ask where Ricky would even get his degree due to the lack of schools, but the three of them suddenly heard footsteps approaching. The three of them stood up and watched as the doors to what they soon realized was the throne room opened, revealing the queen, along with a couple of linoone guards.

Once the queen entered the room and saw that the three were awake, she pointed at the door. "Leave, guards. I will deal with this myself."

"Yes, Your Majesty," the guards said, exiting the room. The queen turned back and looked at Ruby. "At long last... I have been waiting a long time for this."

The queen began approaching Ruby, who fearfully closed her eyes for what was about to happen.

Suddenly, the queen knelt down in front of her, bursting into hysterics. "I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY I DIDNT EVEN GIVE YOU A TRIAL! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" she shouted, crying frantically throughout her apology.

Carlos, Ruby and Ricky sweatdropped.

_"Wow, uh... Didn't see that coming..."_ Carlos thought to himself.

"Um... Sorry? For what?" Ruby asked, still a bit bewildered at the queen's behavior.

The queen got up and tried wiping her tears away, although she was still shaking a bit. "T-That day... I never gave you a chance to explain yourself... And... After you ran, I... I searched up the child's medical files, and..."

"And?" Ruby asked.

"He was sick. You were right, yet we all ignored you..." the queen said shamefully.

Ruby was absolutely speechless. She was so worried about coming to Easlic because of repercussions... And yet, here she was, with the queen of all people apologizing to her.

"... It's okay," Ruby said after a while.

The queen looked up at her. "It... It is?"

Ruby nodded. "Because of this experience, I was able to grow stronger for myself." She looked back at Carlos and Ricky and smiled. "And I made some new friends. So I forgive you all."

The queen sighed in relief. Then, she suddenly jumped up in excitement. "Yay! Yay! She forgives me!" she shouted in glee, bringing in the other three Pokémon in for a hug. "Now we're friends!"

_"S-Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this woman!?"_ Carlos wondered with both shock and annoyance.

Suddenly, they heard the throne room doors slam open. They turned around and saw a shiny eevee glaring straight at the queen.

"Oh, hi, Viola!" the queen greeted happily.

"M-Mother, what is with your behavior! This is very improper!" Viola said, flustered at her mother's newfound attitude.

"Oh, loosen up, kiddo!" the queen said happily, unfazed by Viola's attitude.

"Um... Can I ask you something, Your Majesty?" Carlos asked, remembering the whole reason that they came to Easlic.

The queen looked over to Carlos, finally breaking off the hug. "Oh, no more need for formalities, dear. Just call me Elurra."

"_Queen_ Elurra," Viola clarified.

"Nope, just call me Elurra," Elurra said, still in a carefree manner. "And this eevee here is my very own daughter, Viola!"

"_Princess_ Viola," Viola clarified once again.

"Oh, don't be so uptight! These people are friends!" Elurra said in a jolly manner.

Viola sighed, before turning to Carlos, Ricky, and Ruby. "You two must be Carlos and Ruby, right? On behalf of my mother, I am sorry for making you think you were going to be executed."

"It's okay," Carlos and Ruby replied in earnest.

"Wait, don't I get an apology?" Ricky asked innocently.

"No, you lech," Viola said curtly. "I still haven't forgotten the moves you've tried to make on Mother."

"Yeah, you're really weird," Elurra said in slight disgust, which was quite a surprise for Carlos and Ruby.

"Hold on. If you're really nice, what was with the harsh attitude you showed when you apprehended us?" Carlos questioned.

Elurra looked a bit ashamed. "My people... They expect a noble and serious punishment-giving ruler. Not some free-spirited party animal like me."

"Mother..." Viola said, in concern.

All of a sudden, the front doors to the throne room burst forward before coming to a stop and falling to the ground, much to the five pokémon's surprise.

They noticed that the guards were nowhere to be seen. "There's been an invasion! Where on earth are the guards!?" Viola asked in annoyance.

From the rubble and smoke coming from the door, they saw a Pokémon walking towards them. It was a vulpix... An oddly-colored one, at that. It's fur was completely white, it had red eyes, and odd, yellow markings around its stomach area.

"I knocked them out," the vulpix said. It, unsurprisingly, was a girl.

Elurra got into a stance. "How dare you come to my castle like this!?"

"I had to," the vulpix said, keeping her calm demeanor. "To deliver divine punishment."

"Divine punishment? What the heck are you talking about, weirdo?" Ricky said, ready to attack in case things got out of hand.

"Let me start with introductions-" the vulpix began, but was cut off.

"Okay, Hazel, don't think you're fooling anyone with that stupid disguise!" Carlos shouted at the vulpix (who was apparently Hazel), slightly ticked off. "Now answer the question. What the hell are you doing here!?"

The vulpix scoffed at Carlos. "Fool. Hazel may be my host's name, but _my_ name is Arkhani. As for why I'm here... I came for you," Hazel, now naming herself Arkhani, said, pointing her paw towards Carlos.

"Excuse me?" Carlos retorted, still believing the figure to be Hazel.

"You have committed grave sins against my host," Arkhani said as she began walking towards Carlos slowly. "Sins that have traumatized her. Forever, possibly." She got closer to Carlos. "And when my host feels pain, I must go through that same agonizing pain." She got even closer to Carlos. "And when it's transferred to me, it gets multiplied. Then again, you wouldn't know." She was barely a few feet in front of Carlos at this point, much to his disdain. "So, naturally, it is my instinct - no, my duty - to punish horrible Pokémon like you."

Once Arkhani came to a complete stop, her face was only mere inches away from Carlos'. "However, I have decided to grant some leeway for you, pathetic degenerate. Merely apologize for everything you-"

The next thing she knew, Carlos had dealt a swift punch to her jaw, sending her backwards, much to the others' shock.

"Whoa..." Ricky said in awe.

"He didn't even hesitate," Ruby added.

"Screw you! You're the damn degenerate here, Hazel!" Carlos screamed with all of his frustration.

"So," Arkhani said from her position on the ground, "you're going to fight me instead?"

"Of course. If you thought anything else, then you're dumber than I thought!" Carlos retorted.

One by one, the other four Pokémon stood by Carlos.

"We'll be fighting by you, Carlos!" Viola said before turning to face Arkhani. "No one invades the Easlic Palace and gets away with it!"

"Same goes for me!" Elurra said, serious for the first time in a while. "I won't let you go on while we have guests here! And I won't let you hurt my daughter!"

"And I'll be sure to protect Carlos and Ruby!" Ricky said. They all got into battle stances.

Slowly, Arkhani got up, facing the ground. All of a sudden, she began to giggle. Her giggles soon turned to chuckling, which soon became maniacal laughter.

"What exactly is so amusing to you!?" Viola asked.

Arkhani's laughter died down. "Nothing, it's just... It's too bad we have to fight with such good weather. I mean, just look outside."

Arkhani looked outside of one of the palace's windows and smiled at the beautiful scenery. "It's a beautiful day. Birds are singing... Flowers are blooming..."

She turned her attention back to the five Pokémon, making sure to keep her focus on Carlos. "On days like these, kids like you..." She lifted her paw above her head, where a ball of multicolored light formed.

"... SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL!" she screamed as she threw the ball towards them.

* * *

**Author's Note: Well? Pretty eventful, huh? Also, kudos to anyone who gets the reference. See you in June's update window, everyone!**


End file.
